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filling

noun
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fill·​ing | \ ˈfi-liŋ How to pronounce filling (audio) \

Definition of filling

1 : an act or instance of filling
2 : something used to fill a cavity, container, or depression
3 : something that completes: such as
a : the yarn interlacing the warp in a fabric also : yarn for the shuttle
b : a food mixture used to fill pastry or sandwiches
Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about filling

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Examples of filling in a Sentence

a filling for a tooth pies that need more filling
Recent Examples on the Web The luscious filling for this pie is easy to make and bakes to a perfect sliceable consistency. — Washington Post, "Decorate this caramel apple pie with festive, buttery pastry cutouts," 13 Nov. 2020 Rookie linebacker Malik Harrison also played well filling in for L.J. Fort, who was inactive because of a finger injury. — Childs Walker, baltimoresun.com, "Ravens vs. Patriots scouting report for Week 10: Who has the edge?," 12 Nov. 2020 Kapok is a traditional filling for zafu meditation cushions. — Matt Jancer, Wired, "15 Gift Ideas for Mom and Dad—Wherever They Are This Year," 6 Nov. 2020 Hubbard is the quintessential squash to puree into a filling for pie, breads and pasta dishes. — Tribune News Service, cleveland, "Ways to enjoy the winter squashes of autumn," 3 Nov. 2020 Buggs received the most extensive playing time of his career filling in for nose tackle Tyson Alualu, who left the game with a knee injury. — Mark Inabinett | Minabinett@al.com, al, "Alabama NFL roundup: Minkah Fitzpatrick saves Steelers," 2 Nov. 2020 To the west, facing Porter Road, is a tree area with a soft-surface trail filling in 50 feet of space between the street and building. — Stacy Ryburn, Arkansas Online, "Council reviews revised site plan for Fayetteville police headquarters," 28 Oct. 2020 Designers introduced ovals after learning that filling in the shape was easiest for people with motor impairments. — Anne Quito, Quartz, "Why it’s so hard to fix America’s poorly-designed election ballot," 20 Oct. 2020 Mathematicians expect that proof assistants could also review journal submissions, finding errors that human reviewers occasionally miss, and handle the tedious technical work that goes into filling in all the details of a proof. — Quanta Magazine, "Building the Mathematical Library of the Future," 1 Oct. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'filling.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of filling

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Time Traveler for filling

Time Traveler

The first known use of filling was in the 14th century

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Statistics for filling

Last Updated

29 Nov 2020

Cite this Entry

“Filling.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/filling. Accessed 5 Dec. 2020.

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More Definitions for filling

filling

noun
How to pronounce filling (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of filling

: material that is used to fill something
: a food mixture that is used to fill something (such as pastry or a sandwich)

See the full definition for filling in the English Language Learners Dictionary

filling

noun
fill·​ing | \ ˈfi-liŋ How to pronounce filling (audio) \

Kids Definition of filling

: a substance used to fill something else a filling for a tooth pie filling

filling

noun
fill·​ing | \ ˈfil-iŋ How to pronounce filling (audio) \

Medical Definition of filling

1 : material (as gold or amalgam) used to fill a cavity in a tooth
2 : simple sporadic lymphangitis of the leg of a horse commonly due to overfeeding and insufficient exercise

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More from Merriam-Webster on filling

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for filling

Nglish: Translation of filling for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of filling for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about filling

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