Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - fill

~1 v 1 »MAKE STH FULL« a) also fill up to put the right amount of a liquid, substance, or material into a container, or put in enough to make it full  (I filled a saucepan and put it on the stove. | You've filled the bath too full. | fill sth with)  (Fill the pots with earth. | fill sth to the brim (=fill something completely)) b) be filled with if a container is filled with something, it has had as much of something as possible put inside it  (The next drawer was filled with neat piles of shirts.) 2 »BECOME FULL« also fill up if a place, building, or container fills, it gradually becomes full of people, things, or a particular substance  (They opened the doors and the hall quickly started to fill.)  (The trench is filling up with water.) 3 »NOT LEAVE ANY SPACE« if a lot of people or things fill a place, there are so many of them that there seems to be no room for anyone or anything else  (Piles of newspapers filled the garage. | be filled with)  (The streets were filled with cheering crowds.) 4 »HOLE/CRACK« also fill in to put a substance in a hole or crack in order to make a surface smooth again  (Fill any cracks in the wall before you paint it.) 5 »SOUND/SMELL/LIGHT« if a sound, smell, or light fills a place or space, you notice it because it is very loud or strong  (The smell of freshly baked bread filled the room. | The stage filled with light. | be filled with)  (The air was filled with the sound of happy children.) 6 »EMOTIONS« if an emotion fills you, you feel it very strongly  (A feeling of bliss filled his body. | be filled with)  (She was filled with a deep contentment.) 7 fill a need/demand to give people something they want but which they have not been able to have until now  (The program helps fill a growing need among teenagers for practical advice about drugs.) 8 if you fill a period of time with a particular activity you use most of your time doing it  (Our days were filled with talk and music. | fill sth doing sth)  (Harry filled his spare time reading and writing to friends.) 9 fill yourself informal to eat so much food that you cannot eat any more  (fill yourself with)  (Don't fill yourself up with sweets, we're eating in an hour.) 10 fill a job/post/position a) to do a particular job  (Women fill 30% of the senior positions.) b) to accept someone's offer of a job  (a shortage of trained secretaries willing to fill permanent office vacancies) 11 fill a role be a part of something  (Pop music undoubtedly fills an important role in teenagers' lives.) 12 fill an order especially AmE to supply the goods requested by a customer 13 fill the bill AmE to have exactly the right qualities;  (We needed an experienced reporter and Willis fills the bill.) 14 »TEETH« to put a filling2 (1) in a tooth 15 »SAIL« if a sail fills or the wind fills a sail, the sail has a rounded shape rather than hanging down loosely fill in phr v 1 »DOCUMENT« T fill something in) to write all the necessary information on an official document  (Don't forget to fill in your boarding cards.) 2 »TELL SB NEWS« T fill someone in) to tell someone about things which have happened recently, especially because you have not seen them for a long time  (fill sb in on sth)  (Let me fill you in on what's been happening in the office over lunch.) 3 »CRACK/HOLE« T fill something in) to put a substance in a hole or crack in order to make a surface smooth again  (filling in the holes in the road) 4 fill in time to use your time doing something unimportant, especially when you are waiting for something to happen  (We've got some time to fill in before the show. Let's go for a drink.) 5 »SPACE« T fill something in) to paint or draw over the space inside a shape  (Somebody had filled in all the `o's' on the page.) 6 »DO SB'S JOB« to do someone's job or work because they are unable to do it  (fill in for sb)  (Sally's off sick. Can you fill in for her for a few days?) 7 »HIT SB« T fill someone in) BrE informal to hit someone hard and repeatedly all over their body  (One more crack like that and I'll fill you in.) fill out phr v 1 T fill something out) to write all the necessary information on an official document  (You haven't filled out the counterfoil.) 2 a) if your body fills out it becomes rounded or large in a way that is considered attractive  (Young Kevin has really filled out in the last six months.) b) a phrase meaning to become fat, used when you do not want to offend someone  (I think Eric is filling out around the waist.) fill up phr v 1 »MAKE STH FULL« T fill something up) to put the right amount of a liquid or substance in a container or enough to make it full  (Brad just kept filling up everyone's glasses with champagne.) 2 »BECOME FULL« to gradually become full of people, things, or a substance  (The church was filling up with people who had come to pay their respects.) 3 »DOCUMENT« T fill something up) to write all the necessary information on an official document 4 fill (yourself) up informal to eat so much food that you cannot eat any more  (Don't fill yourself up with too many cookies.) 5 »STOP SB FEELING HUNGRY« T fill someone up) informal food that fills you up makes you feel you have eaten a lot when you have only eaten a small amount  (I used to just have a sandwich for lunch, but that doesn't fill me up anymore.) ~2 n 1 have your fill of sth to no longer be able to accept an unpleasant situation  (I've had my fill of screaming kids for one day.) 2 eat/drink your fill to eat or drink as much as you want or need 3 a fill of sth the quantity you need to fill something