fill

/fɪl/

/fɪl/

Other forms: filled; fills

When you fill something, you add to it until it's full, or has enough. When your car's almost out of gas, you have to fill the tank at a gas station.

You can fill a bathtub with hot water and bubbles, but there's also a figurative way to fill: "Scary movies fill me with anxiety," or "Traveling fills me with a sense of adventure." When the smell of chopped raw onions fills the air in your kitchen, your eyes might reflexively fill with tears. When fill is a noun, it means "something that fills a space."

Definitions of fill

1. verb

   make full, also in a metaphorical sense
   “fill a container”

   “fill the child with pride”

   synonyms: fill up, make full

   antonyms:

   empty

   make void or empty of contents

   types:

   clutter, clutter up

   fill a space in a disorderly way

   clog, overload

   fill to excess so that function is impaired

   brim

   fill as much as possible

   farce, stuff

   fill with a stuffing while cooking

   stuff

   fill tightly with a material

   bolster, pad

   add padding to

   populate

   fill with inhabitants

   top off

   fill to the point of almost overflowing

   heap

   fill to overflow

   overfill

   fill beyond capacity

   ink

   fill with ink

   fill again, refill, replenish

   fill something that had previously been emptied

   prime

   fill with priming liquid

   line

   fill plentifully

   complete

   bring to a whole, with all the necessary parts or elements

   impregnate, saturate

   infuse or fill completely

   impregnate, infuse, instill, tincture

   fill, as with a certain quality

   electrify

   charge (a conductor) with electricity

   lube, lubricate

   apply a lubricant to

   surcharge

   fill to an excessive degree

   lade, laden, load, load up

   fill or place a load on

   charge, load

   provide (a device) with something necessary

   deluge, flood, inundate, swamp

   fill quickly beyond capacity; as with a liquid

   pack

   fill to capacity

   medicate

   impregnate with a medicinal substance

   alcoholise, alcoholize

   treat or infuse with alcohol

   cork

   stuff with cork

   people

   fill with people

   imbue, soak

   fill, soak, or imbue totally

   ammonify

   treat with ammonia; cause to undergo ammonification

   thoriate

   impregnate with thorium oxide to increase thermionic emission

   stuff

   treat with grease, fill, and prepare for mounting

   charge

   saturate

   drench, imbrue

   permeate or impregnate

   red-ink

   mark with red ink

   load down, pack

   load with a pack

   bomb up

   load an aircraft with bombs

   overcharge, overload, surcharge

   place too much a load on

   recharge, reload

   load anew

   reload

   place a new load on

   stack

   load or cover with stacks

   type of:

   alter, change, modify

   cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
2. verb

   become full
   “The pool slowly filled with water”

   “The theater filled up slowly”

   synonyms: fill up

   antonyms:

   empty

   become empty or void of its content

   types:

   water

   fill with tears

   flood

   become filled to overflowing

   rack up

   supply a rack with feed for (horses or other animals)

   type of:

   change state, turn

   undergo a transformation or a change of position or action
3. verb

   occupy the whole of
   “The liquid fills the container”

   synonyms: occupy

   types:

   crowd

   fill or occupy to the point of overflowing

   take up

   take up time or space

   type of:

   be

   occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere
4. verb

   plug with a substance
   “fill a cavity”

   types:

   close, fill up

   fill or stop up

   seal

   close with or as if with a seal

   plug, secure, stop up

   fill or close tightly with or as if with a plug

   coapt, conglutinate

   cause to adhere

   type of:

   bushel, doctor, fix, furbish up, mend, repair, restore, touch on

   restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken
5. verb

   fill to satisfaction
   synonyms: replete, sate, satiate

   types:

   cloy, pall

   cause surfeit through excess though initially pleasing

   type of:

   consume, have, ingest, take, take in

   serve oneself to, or consume regularly
6. verb

   eat until one is sated
   “He filled up on turkey”

   synonyms: fill up

   type of:

   eat

   take in solid food
7. noun

   any material that fills a space or container
   “there was not enough fill for the trench”

   synonyms: filling

   types:

   cement

   any of various materials used by dentists to fill cavities in teeth

   type of:

   material, stuff

   the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object
8. noun

   a quantity sufficient to satisfy
   “he ate his fill of potatoes”

   “she had heard her fill of gossip”

   type of:

   enough, sufficiency

   an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
9. verb

   fill or meet a want or need
   synonyms: fulfil, fulfill, meet, satisfy

   types:

   answer

   be satisfactory for; meet the requirements of or serve the purpose of

   appease, quell, stay

   overcome or allay

   feed on, feed upon

   be sustained by

   allay, assuage, quench, slake

   satisfy (thirst)

   type of:

   cater, ply, provide, supply

   give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance
10. verb

    appoint someone to (a position or a job)
    type of:

    employ, engage, hire

    engage or hire for work
11. verb

    assume, as of positions or roles
    synonyms: occupy, take

    assume, strike, take, take up

    occupy or take on

    type of:

    do work, work

    be employed