to spill coffee
9
1.3
- phrasal verb
- /spɪl ˈkɔfi/
:
derramar café
- I spilled coffee on it.
- spilled coffee in her lap
- spilled hot coffee
- spill a cup of coffee
You know, somebody spills coffee on my my nice shirt, right?
- You know, somebody spills coffee on my my nice shirt, right?
- So can you sort of when something negative happens, you know, say you spill the coffee.
- I mean like varnish it, make sure it doesn't get doesn't get dirty because I know I will spill coffee on this first night I sleep here.
Examples
-
"Looks like I spilled my coffee," I said.
Fiction book (1996) -
I just spilled some coffee.
-
Dear, did you spill coffee on yourself?
-
You made him spill his coffee.
-
As she does, she spills her coffee all over the desk.
Fiction book (1999) -
And of course, to add to my bad luck streak, I spilled my coffee all over myself and the floor and my luggage.
-
The tray was not hanging up as usual, but lying on the kitchen table with some spilled coffee still on it.
Fiction book (1996) -
I had to hit the brakes so hard, I dropped my razor and spilled my coffee.
Blog text (7) -
Mom grabbed a paper towel and sopped up the spilled coffee leaking toward the Baby Jesuses.
Fiction book (2002) -
While rushing to work, I accidentally spilled coffee on my shirt.
Synonyms
347
1.0
To accidentally cause liquid to flow out of a container
51
4.1
To make liquid fall in small messy drops on a surface
14
5.0
To splash small drops onto a surface and make spots
3
1.1
To let the drink in your cup or glass fall by accident
3
4.9
To spill or pour liquid in a messy way
To splash liquid around and make a mess
How Messy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to accidentally pour coffee out of a cup' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'spill' (to accidentally cause a liquid to flow out) with 'coffee' (a beverage). This is a simple verb + noun event that follows standard compositional patterns and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will understand it.
Etymology
Spill coffee paints a clear picture: a cup is tipped and coffee pours out as someone spills it, leaving a mess or a stain. So it means 'to accidentally pour coffee out of a cup or container'.