Complete vs. Fill — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Urooj Arif — Updated on April 20, 2024
Complete refers to making something whole or finished, focusing on reaching an endpoint or satisfying requirements, while fill involves adding a substance to occupy space or capacity.
Difference Between Complete and Fill
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
To complete something means to bring it to a conclusion or finish all necessary parts or steps. This term often implies achieving a predefined standard or fulfilling requirements. On the other hand, to fill something generally focuses on increasing content to a desired or necessary level, such as filling a glass with water or a form with information.
Completing a task suggests that every component or phase has been addressed and there are no remaining steps left. Whereas filling a task could involve adding more work or content to what already exists, without necessarily concluding it.
Completion is associated with the end of a process, such as completing a course, indicating all requirements have been met and there is nothing more to add. Conversely, filling often deals with ongoing processes, like filling a schedule, which implies there are gaps that need to be continuously addressed.
In terms of project management, completion signifies the finality of a project, where all objectives are achieved and the work is ready for delivery. On the other hand, filling could refer to allocating resources throughout the project's duration to ensure all roles and responsibilities are covered.
When it comes to forms or documents, to complete them means to provide all required information so that no part of the form is left unanswered. However, filling out a form mainly emphasizes adding necessary details in each field, focusing on occupying the provided spaces appropriately.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
To finish making something whole or meeting standards
To add a substance to occupy space or capacity
Usage Context
Completion of tasks, projects, requirements
Filling spaces, gaps, forms
Implication
Finality, no further additions
Process of adding, may not imply completion
Example Applications
Completing a degree, a form
Filling a bottle, a job position
Focus
End point, total fulfillment
Incremental addition, capacity management
Compare with Definitions
Complete
Finish making something whole or perfect.
She aims to complete her novel by next month.
Fill
Make full; put as much as can be held into.
He filled the glass with water.
Complete
Achieve or fulfill a duty or task.
He completed his assignment on time.
Fill
Satisfy or meet a requirement or need.
This job fills my need for challenge.
Complete
To make perfect or entire.
The certificate will complete his documentation.
Fill
To become full.
The moon fills tonight.
Complete
To come to an end.
The series completed with a surprising twist.
Fill
Occupy to the full extent.
The music filled the hall.
Complete
To conclude the academic requirements for.
She completed her Master's degree last year.
Fill
Appoint a person to hold a vacant position.
They filled the position with a new hire.
Complete
Having all necessary or normal parts, components, or steps; entire
A complete medical history.
A complete set of dishes.
Fill
To put something into (a container, for example) to capacity or to a desired level
Fill a glass with milk.
Filled the tub with water.
Complete
(Botany) Having all principal parts, namely, the sepals, petals, stamens, and pistil or pistils. Used of a flower.
Fill
To supply or provide to the fullest extent
Filled the mall with new stores.
Complete
Having come to an end; concluded
The renovation of the kitchen is complete.
Fill
To build up the level of (low-lying land) with material such as earth or gravel.
Complete
Absolute; thorough
Complete control.
A complete mystery.
Fill
To stop or plug up (an opening, for example).
Complete
Accomplished; consummate
A complete musician.
Fill
To repair a cavity of (a tooth).
Complete
(Football) Caught in bounds by a receiver
A complete pass.
Fill
To add a foreign substance to (cloth or wood, for example).
Complete
To bring to a finish or an end
She has completed her studies.
Fill
To flow or move into (a container or area), often to capacity
Water is filling the basement. Fans are filling the stadium.
Complete
To make whole, with all necessary elements or parts
A second child would complete their family. Fill in the blanks to complete the form.
Fill
To pervade
Music filled the room.
Complete
(Football) To throw (a forward pass) that is caught in bounds by a receiver.
Fill
To satiate, as with food and drink
The guests filled themselves with pie.
Complete
(ambitransitive) To finish; to make done; to reach the end.
He completed the assignment on time.
Fill
To engage or occupy completely
A song that filled me with nostalgia.
Complete
(transitive) To make whole or entire.
The last chapter completes the book nicely.
Fill
To satisfy or meet; fulfill
Fill the requirements.
Complete
(poker) To call from the small blind in an unraised pot.
Fill
To supply what is specified by or required for
Fill a prescription.
Fill an order.
Complete
With all parts included; with nothing missing; full.
My life will be complete once I buy this new television.
She offered me complete control of the project.
After she found the rook, the chess set was complete.
Fill
To put a person into (a job or position)
We filled the job with a new hire.
Complete
Finished; ended; concluded; completed.
When your homework is complete, you can go and play with Martin.
Fill
To discharge the duties of; occupy
How long has she filled that post?.
Complete
Generic intensifier.
He is a complete bastard!
It was a complete shock when he turned up on my doorstep.
Our vacation was a complete disaster.
Fill
To cover the surface of (an inexpensive metal) with a layer of precious metal, such as gold.
Complete
In which every Cauchy sequence converges to a point within the space.
Fill
To cause (a sail) to swell.
Complete
In which every set with a lower bound has a greatest lower bound.
Fill
To adjust (a yard) so that wind will cause a sail to swell.
Complete
In which all small limits exist.
Fill
To become full
The basement is filling with water.
Complete
In which every semantically valid well-formed formula is provable.
Fill
An amount needed to make full, complete, or satisfied
Eat one's fill.
Complete
That is in a given complexity class and is such that every other problem in the class can be reduced to it (usually in polynomial time or logarithmic space).
Fill
Material for filling a container, cavity, or passage.
Complete
Filled up; with no part or element lacking; free from deficiency; entire; perfect; consummate.
Ye are complete in him.
That thou, dead corse, again in complete steelRevisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon.
Fill
A built-up piece of land; an embankment.
Complete
Finished; ended; concluded; completed; as, the edifice is complete.
This course of vanity almost complete.
Fill
The material, such as earth or gravel, used for this.
Complete
Having all the parts or organs which belong to it or to the typical form; having calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistil.
Fill
(transitive) To occupy fully, to take up all of.
Complete
To bring to a state in which there is no deficiency; to perfect; to consummate; to accomplish; to fulfill; to finish; as, to complete a task, or a poem; to complete a course of education.
Bred only and completed to the tasteOf lustful appetence.
And, to complete her bliss, a fool for mate.
Fill
(transitive) To add contents to (a container, cavity, or the like) so that it is full.
Complete
Come or bring to a finish or an end;
He finished the dishes
She completed the requirements for her Master's Degree
The fastest runner finished the race in just over 2 hours; others finished in over 4 hours
Fill
To enter (something), making it full.
Complete
Bring to a whole, with all the necessary parts or elements;
A child would complete the family
Fill
(intransitive) To become full.
The bucket filled with rain;
The sails fill with wind
Complete
Complete or carry out;
Discharge one's duties
Fill
(intransitive) To become pervaded with something.
My heart filled with joy.
Complete
Complete a pass
Fill
(transitive) To satisfy or obey (an order, request, or requirement).
The pharmacist filled my prescription for penicillin.
We can't let the library close! It fills a great need in the community.
Complete
Write all the required information onto a form;
Fill out this questionnaire, please!
Make out a form
Fill
(transitive) To install someone, or be installed, in (a position or office), eliminating a vacancy.
Sorry, no more applicants. The position has been filled.
Complete
Having every necessary or normal part or component or step;
A complete meal
A complete wardrobe
A complete set pf the Britannica
A complete set of china
A complete defeat
A complete accounting
An incomplete flower
Fill
(transitive) To treat (a tooth) by adding a dental filling to it.
Dr. Smith filled Jim's cavity with silver amalgam.
Complete
Perfect and complete in every respect; having all necessary qualities;
A complete gentleman
Consummate happiness
A consummate performance
Fill
(transitive) To fill or supply fully with food; to feed; to satisfy.
Complete
Having all four whorls or principal parts--sepals and petals and stamens and carpels (or pistils);
Complete flowers
Fill
To trim (a yard) so that the wind blows on the after side of the sails.
Complete
Highly skilled;
An accomplished pianist
A complete musician
Fill
(after a possessive) A sufficient or more than sufficient amount.
Don't feed him any more: he's had his fill.
Complete
Without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers;
An arrant fool
A complete coward
A consummate fool
A double-dyed villain
Gross negligence
A perfect idiot
Pure folly
What a sodding mess
Stark staring mad
A thoroughgoing villain
Utter nonsense
Fill
An amount that fills a container.
The mixer returned to the plant for another fill.
Complete
Having come or been brought to a conclusion;
The harvesting was complete
The affair is over, ended, finished
The abruptly terminated interview
Fill
The filling of a container or area.
That machine can do 20 fills a minute.
This paint program supports lines, circles, and textured fills.
Fill
Inexpensive material used to occupy empty spaces, especially in construction.
The ruins of earlier buildings were used as fill for more recent construction.
Fill
(archaeology) Soil and/or human-created debris discovered within a cavity or cut in the layers and exposed by excavation; fill soil.
Fill
An embankment, as in railroad construction, to fill a hollow or ravine; also, the place which is to be filled.
Fill
(music) A short passage, riff, or rhythmic sound that helps to keep the listener's attention during a break between the phrases of a melody.
Bass fill
Fill
One of the thills or shafts of a carriage.
Fill
One of the thills or shafts of a carriage.
Fill
A full supply, as much as supplies want; as much as gives complete satisfaction.
I'll bear thee hence, where I may weep my fill.
Fill
That which fills; filling; filler; specif., an embankment, as in railroad construction, to fill a hollow or ravine; also, the place which is to be filled.
Fill
To make full; to supply with as much as can be held or contained; to put or pour into, till no more can be received; to occupy the whole capacity of.
The rain also filleth the pools.
Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. Anf they filled them up to the brim.
Fill
To furnish an abudant supply to; to furnish with as mush as is desired or desirable; to occupy the whole of; to swarm in or overrun.
And God blessed them, saying. Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas.
The Syrians filled the country.
Fill
To fill or supply fully with food; to feed; to satisfy.
Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fillso great a multitude?
Things that are sweet and fat are more filling.
Fill
To possess and perform the duties of; to officiate in, as an incumbent; to occupy; to hold; as, a king fills a throne; the president fills the office of chief magistrate; the speaker of the House fills the chair.
Fill
To supply with an incumbent; as, to fill an office or a vacancy.
Fill
To press and dilate, as a sail; as, the wind filled the sails.
Fill
To make an embankment in, or raise the level of (a low place), with earth or gravel.
Fill
To become full; to have the whole capacity occupied; to have an abundant supply; to be satiated; as, corn fills well in a warm season; the sail fills with the wind.
Fill
To fill a cup or glass for drinking.
Give me some wine; fill full.
Fill
A quantity sufficient to satisfy;
He ate his fill of potatoes
She had heard her fill of gossip
Fill
Any material that fills a space or container;
There was not enough fill for the trench
Fill
Make full, also in a metaphorical sense;
Fill a container
Fill the child with pride
Fill
Become full;
The pool slowly filled with water
The theater filled up slowly
Fill
Occupy the whole of;
The liquid fills the container
Fill
Assume, as of positions or roles;
She took the job as director of development
Fill
Fill or meet a want or need
Fill
Appoint someone to (a position or a job)
Fill
Eat until one is sated;
He filled up on turkey
Fill
Fill to satisfaction;
I am sated
Fill
Plug with a substance;
Fill a cavity
Common Curiosities
Can a task be both filled and completed?
Yes, a task can be filled by continuously adding necessary content or actions, and completed when all specified requirements are met.
What is the difference between filling time and completing time?
Filling time generally means occupying it with activities, whereas completing time would suggest finishing a time-bound task or event.
What does it mean to fill a form?
To fill a form means to add necessary details to the specified fields, typically involving personal or requested information.
Does complete imply quality?
Often, complete implies that something meets a certain standard or quality as required.
What if something is filled but not complete?
It means that while the space or requirements might be physically filled, other criteria for completion might still be pending.
What does it mean to complete a form?
To complete a form means to provide all required information, ensuring no section is left blank.
Is completion always the end of a process?
Typically, yes. Completion signifies that a process has been finalized with no further additions needed.
Is it possible to complete filling something?
Yes, one can complete the action of filling something when the desired level or capacity is reached.
Does fill imply quantity?
Yes, fill often involves the quantity of a substance or material added to a space or container.
What’s more important in job roles, to fill or complete them?
Both are important: filling a role means having someone in the position, while completing it implies the person meets all job expectations.
Can you complete something without filling it?
Yes, in contexts where completion is defined by criteria other than physical capacity, such as completing a course without filling every available seat.
How do the concepts of complete and fill apply in software development?
In software development, completing a project means finalizing all development phases and testing, while filling might involve adding code or features to meet the project requirements.
How does one know if something is complete?
Something is complete when all its requirements, standards, or objectives are met.
What’s the difference between completing and finishing a task?
Completing a task often involves fulfilling specific criteria, while finishing is more about bringing a task to an end, regardless of the fulfillment of all criteria.
How does filling impact project management?
Filling roles and tasks in project management ensures that all necessary positions and responsibilities are covered throughout the project.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
