Dictionary

fill in en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To fill; to replace material that is absent or has been removed.
   • After you're done laying the pipe, fill in the trench.
   • The decking of the bridge consisted of steel troughing over an average clear span of 26 ft., the troughing being filled in with concrete to form the road surface. 1958 May 14, “Widening at Dun Laoghaire, C.I.E.”, in Railway Magazine, page 342:
   • Typically for the 'get-on-with-it' era, the railway and military worked like demons to restore the vital rail link. The crater was rapidly filled in and the earth tamped solid, the wreckage was removed by breakdown trains, new rails and sleepers were rushed forward by willing hands, and US Army bulldozers piled in. By 2020 on the same day, both tracks were open for traffic again where there had been a gaping pit just hours before. 2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:
2. (idiomatic, transitive) To inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information.
   • If you know anything about this, maybe you can fill me in.
   • Wait, uh - I-I-I should go distract Caine so he doesn't l-listen in on this. Uh, j-just fill me in afterwards. 2026 March 20, Gooseworx, “hjsakldfhl” (20:32 from the start), in The Amazing Digital Circus, episode 8, spoken by Jax (Michael Kovach):
3. (idiomatic, intransitive) To substitute for somebody or something.
   • By 6 am, Jodi hadn’t arrived yet, and Kuns filled in for her after a second call went unanswered. 2026 August 10, Nicholas Muhoro, “Jodi Huisentruit, 27, Vanished From Her Apartment Parking Lot in 1995. Police Found Signs of a Struggle”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 11 Aug 2026:
   • He can't go on vacation very often because there is nobody to fill in for him.
4. (UK, idiomatic, transitive) To complete a form or questionnaire with requested information.
   • I've got a form that is to be filled in in ink.
   • The findings emerged from questionnaires filled in by 2,211 staff in 145 wards of 55 hospitals in England and Wales and 105 observations of care of dementia patients. Two-thirds of staff said they had not had enough training to provide proper care, 50% said they had not been trained how to communicate properly with such patients and 54% had not been told how to handle challenging or aggressive behaviour. 2011 December 16, Denis Campbell, “Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients'”, in Guardian:
5. (idiomatic, slang) To beat up; to physically assault.
   • Talk to me like that again and I'll fill you in!
   • It's just a rumour that was spread around town Somebody said that someone got filled in For saying that people get killed in The result of this shipbuilding 1982, Elvis Costello, Shipbuilding:

Forms

Coordinates

catch up

Deriveds

fill in the blank · fill in the blanks

Synonyms

fill out

Translations (35)

sv vicka (to substitute for somebody or something) · nl vervangen (to substitute for somebody or something) · da fortælle (to inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information) · es remplazar (to substitute for somebody or something) · grc ἀπεργάζομαι (to inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information) · el ενημερώνω (to inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information) · fr remplacer (to substitute for somebody or something) · bg запозная (to inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information) · pt substituir (to substitute for somebody or something) · io remplasar (to substitute for somebody or something) · de ersetzen (to substitute for somebody or something) · cmn 頂崗 /顶岗 (to substitute for somebody or something) · ru замеща́ть (to substitute for somebody or something) · bg запознавам (to inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information) · fr mettre au courant (to inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information) · it rimpiazzare (to substitute for somebody or something) · es substituir (to substitute for somebody or something) · fi saattaa ajan tasalle (to inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information) · fi toimia sijaisena (to substitute for somebody or something) · ca reemplaçar (to substitute for somebody or something) · fr renseigner (to inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information) · bg заместя (to substitute for somebody or something) · cmn 代班 (to substitute for somebody or something) · es reemplazar (to substitute for somebody or something) · sv vikariera (to substitute for somebody or something) · el συμπληρώνω (to inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information) · bg замествам (to substitute for somebody or something) · cmn 頂班 /顶班 (to substitute for somebody or something) · fi tuurata (to substitute for somebody or something) · tr bilgilendirmek (to inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information) · es informar (to inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information) · ru замести́ть (to substitute for somebody or something) · bg сгъна (to beat someone up) · ru дава́ть бо́лее по́лную информа́цию (to inform somebody, especially to supply someone missing or missed information) · bg сгъвам (to beat someone up)