Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FILL, v.t. [Sax. fyllan, gefillan; D. vullen; G. füllen; Sw. fylla; Dan. fylder, to fill; Fr. fouler, to full, to tread, that is, to press, to crowd; foule, a crowd; Gr. πολυς, πολλοι; allied perhaps to fold and felt; Ir. fillim; Gr. πιλος; πιλοω, to stuff; L. pilus, pileus. We are told that the Gr. πελαω, to approach, signified originally to thrust or drive, L. pello, and contracted into πλαω, it is rendered to fill, and πλεος is full. If a vowel was originally used between π and λ, in these words, they coincide with fill; and the L. pleo, (for peleo,) in all its compounds, is the same word. In Russ. polnei is full; polnyu, to fill. See Class Bl, No, 9, 11, 12, 15, 22, 30, 45, 47.]

1. Properly, to press; to crowd; to stuff. Hence, to put or pour in, till the thing will hold no more; as, to fill a basket, a bottle, a vessel. Fill the water-pots with water: and they filled them to the brim. John ii.
2. To store; to supply with abundance. Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas. Gen. i.
3. To cause to abound; to make universally prevalent. The earth was filled with violence. Gen. vi.
4. To satisfy; to content. Whence should we have so much bread in the wildernesses; as, to fill so great a multitude? Matth. xv.
5. To glut; to surfeit. Things that are sweet and fat are more filling. Bacon.
6. To make plump; as, in a good season the grain is well filled. In the summer of 1816, the driest and coldest which the oldest man remembered, the rye was so well filled, that the grain protruded beyond the husk, and a shock yielded a speck more than in common years.
7. To press and dilate on all sides or to the extremities; as, the sails were filled.
8. To supply with liquor; to pour into; as, to fill a glass for a guest.
9. To supply with an incumbent; as, to fill an office or vacancy. Hamilton.
10. To hold; to possess and perform the duties of; to officiate in, as an incumbent; as, a king fills a throne; the president fills the office of chief magistrate; the speaker of the house fills the chair.
11. In seamanship, to brace the sails so that the wind will bear upon them and dilate them. To fill out, to extend or enlarge to the desired limit. To fill up, to make full. It pours the bliss that fills up all the mind. Pope. But in this and many other cases, the use of up weakens the force of the phrase. #2. To occupy; to fill. Seek to fill up life with useful employments. #3. To fill; to occupy the whole extent; as, to fill up a given space. #4. To engage or employ; as, to fill up time. #5. To complete; as, to fill up the measure of sin. Matth. xxiii. #6. To complete.; to accomplish. And fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ. Col. i.