spill the beans
/ˌspɪl ðə ˈbiːnz/
spill the beans verb: to reveal a secret; to disclose information.
Verb
spill the beans (third-person singular simple present spills the beans, present participle spilling the beans, simple past and past participle spilled the beans or spilt the beans)
- To reveal a secret; to disclose information.
- They had planned it as a surprise party, but somebody spilled the beans.
- I guarantee you, someone's going to spill the beans and next thing this shit's all over the news.2008, Patricia Cornwell, Point Of Origin
- Synonyms:
- let the cat out of the bag, spill one's guts, spill the tea
spill the beans meaning in Malayalam
spill the beans in Malayalam
- tell all, reveal all, give the game away
- രഹസ്യം വെളിപ്പെടുത്തുക, വെളിപ്പെടത്തുക, പൂച്ച വെളിയിലാകുക, കിളിപോലെ പറയുക, സത്യമെല്ലാം തുറന്നു പറയുക, രഹസ്യം പുറത്താക്കുക
Examples of spill the beans in a sentence
- You because she couldn't be sure what Wennington had told you, and Frank because he got cold feet and was about to spill the beans.2017, Wade Fowler, The Honey Trap:
- Shall we meet up for a meal and I think I can be persuaded to spill the beans if I drink enough wine.2022, Spencer Coleman, Facade:
Synonyms of spill the beans
Forms of spill the beans
| third-person singular present | spills the beans |
|---|---|
| present participle | spilling the beans |
| past participle | spilled the beans |
| past | spilled the beans |
| past participle | spilt the beans |
| past | spilt the beans |
Origin of spill the beans
First attested in 20th century American English. One possible origin for the phrase is from an Ancient Greek practice of using different-coloured beans for voting, where spilling the jar containing them would unwantedly reveal the results, though this might be folk etymology.
Words formed from spill the beans
Words that rhyme with spill the beans
- beans
- greens
- teens
- leans
- means
- -enes
- by no means
- campfire beans
- cool beans
- figurines
- gleans
- intervenes
13 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about spill the beans
- What does spill the beans mean?
- Spill the beans means to reveal a secret; to disclose information.
- What is spill the beans in Malayalam?
- Spill the beans in Malayalam is രഹസ്യം വെളിപ്പെടുത്തുക, വെളിപ്പെടത്തുക, പൂച്ച വെളിയിലാകുക. See Spill the beans meaning in Malayalam.
- How do you use spill the beans in a sentence?
- You because she couldn't be sure what Wennington had told you, and Frank because he got cold feet and was about to spill the beans.
- What part of speech is spill the beans?
- Spill the beans is a verb.
- How do you pronounce spill the beans?
- Spill the beans is pronounced /ˌspɪl ðə ˈbiːnz/.
- What is the past tense of spill the beans?
- The past tense of spill the beans is spilled the beans.
Words near spill the beans in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: spill the beans (page history and authors); spill the beans (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-spill the beans.ogg.
Cite this entry: “spill the beans.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spill_the_beans. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.