Cover
Cover verb - To serve as a replacement usually for a time only.
Spill
Spill verb - To make known (as information previously kept secret).
Usage example: the actor's butler spilled the secret to a tabloid for $40,000
How words are described
| single | single cover | single spill |
| embarrassing | embarrassing cover | embarrassing spill |
| bad | bad cover | bad spill |
| infamous | infamous cover | infamous spill |
| Other adjectives: recent, red, doesn't. | ||
Common collocations
Both words in one sentence
-
China's cover story this time is "toxic spill"; they had to evac the area for Search and Rescue.
Source: Gas Leak Cover-Up -
As he tries to cover himself, more and more lines about her rack spill out... Gilligan Cut to him leaving the elevator, having gotten well-slapped.
Source: Digging Yourself Deeper - Gas Leak Cover-Up: In "Moon Moon Moon", the area around a magical working is cordoned off by police because of an "anthrax spill".
Source: Literature / Diogenes Club
Cite this Source
Spill and Cover. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/cover/spill
Cover & Spill. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/cover/spill>.
Spill or Cover. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/cover/spill.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "cover" and "spill" have occurred on timeline