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Glite Dictionary
🌊 To overflow 😊 To show emotion
to spill over

to spill over

16 4.2
To move beyond the edge of a container or place
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : desbordarse
  • The onset of the Cold War quickly spilled over into the Middle East.
  • conflict spills over
  • war spilled over
  • spilling over into territory

Let's say you spill over your cup of coffee, OK.

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Examples

  • So what we are working towards now, and it may spill over into the Wednesday classes.

  • The robust growth of the domestic IPC industry has spilled over into international markets.

    Academic text (1999)

  • Let's say you spill over your cup of coffee, OK.

    The Minimalists

  • The first one is how much of this toxic debt is going to spill over into the small and regional banks.

    Ken McElroy

  • Often these groups spill over to other countries, involving those countries in the conflict.

    Academic text (2003)

  • And then you find them spilling over into your personal life without realizing it.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Some of their ideas spilled over into the next volume of the newly named journal.

    Academic text (1995)

  • A wall of bi-fold glass doors expands the inside space, allowing activities to spill over outside.

    Academic text (2010)

  • By the evening, Ms. Click's inbox was spilling over with emails from an assortment of angry individuals.

    Academic text (2016)

  • The excitement from the concert spilled over into the streets as fans celebrated together.

Synonyms

to well over
vsto spill over
22 4.4

To rise and flow out like tears or strong feelings

is mainly about physical overflow or general extension not strong emotion
to run over
vsto spill over
5 3.2

A liquid flows over the top of its container

is used for liquids, people, or events extending past limits
to overrun
vsto spill over
4 5.3

Go past a limit or planned time

is focused on overflow of liquids, people, or events rather than other boundary breaches
to overspill
vsto spill over
  • UK
1 4.9

To flow over the edge of a container or limit

is used for any overflow or extension past a boundary
to brim over
vsto spill over
3.6

To flow over the edge when a container or feeling is too full

is the general term for things extending beyond usual boundaries
to overbrim
vsto spill over
7.8

To be or make something so full that it spills over the edge

is broader, applying to liquids, people, and events going past limits

Antonyms

to contain
∞ 1.1

To have something inside like a box or book

How Much

to flood
176 1.0
to spill over
16 4.2
to overflow
43 2.9
to run over
5 3.2

Surface Forms

spill over infinitive
spilled over past
spilled over past participle
spilling over present participle
spills over third person singular

Morphology

spill + over

The sense arises from a straightforward metaphorical extension of 'spill' (liquid escaping containment) plus 'over' (beyond a boundary), so the image of emotions overflowing is directly suggested by the constituents. This mapping is common across languages and likely inferable by a B1 learner who knows the words, but it requires a metaphorical transfer from liquid to emotion rather than purely compositional meaning, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Spill over comes from the image of liquid that spills over the edge of a container and goes past its limits. So, we use it to say crowds, events or things 'overflow' or move 'beyond their usual limits'.