Collocations are words that usually go together in English.
Here we are going to look at words that go with 'fill' to make useful and popular expressions you will hear in social and professional contexts.
Fill to capacity
To 'fill to capacity' means to reach the maximum amount that something can contain.
Examples
- We need to fill the theatre to capacity if we want to break even.
- Sorry, there are no seats left on this flight. We are filled to capacity.
- The pop star's much publicized tour has been filling stadiums to capacity all over the world.
Fill (a/the) room
To 'fill a/the room' is used figuratively to refer to someone or something that dominates or is the most noticeable thing in a particular place.
Examples
- Mary is not a good public speaker. Her voice is too quiet and cannot fill a room.
- The flowers filled the room with a beautiful scent.
- When I walked into Gary's office, the sound of his radio was filling the room.
- He was destined to be a politician. Every time he did a press conference, he filled the room with his presence.
Fill in for (somebody)
When you 'fill in for somebody', you do their job for the short period of time they are unable to do it.
Examples
- Don't worry, I can fill in for you if you need to go home early today.
- I won't be able to chair the meeting tomorrow. Do you mind filling in for me?
- Emily isn't normally a teacher here. She just filled in for me while I was on holiday.
Fill (a) vacancy
If you 'fill a vacancy', you take an available job.
Examples
- Thank you for your application, but the vacancy has already been filled.
- We have a lot of vacancies to fill, so our recruitment team need to start being more proactive.
- I talked with Susan today about filling a vacancy on the School Committee.
Fill (in/out) a form
When you 'fill in/out a form', you add the required information to the empty spaces of a document.
Examples
- It took me hours to fill out the application form! There were 10 pages to get through.
- Taxpayers are obliged to have filled out their tax forms by the end of October.
- I toured the facility before filling in the membership form.