foil

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See also: FOIL

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /fɔɪl/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔɪl

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English foil, foille, from Old French fueille (“plant leaf”), from Late Latin folia, the plural of folium, mistaken as a singular feminine. Doublet of folio and folium.

Noun[edit]

foil (countable and uncountable, plural foils)

  1. A very thin sheet of metal.
  2. (uncountable) Thin aluminium/aluminum (or, formerly, tin) used for wrapping food.
    wrap the sandwich up in foil
  3. A thin layer of metal put between a jewel and its setting to make it seem more brilliant.
  4. (authorship, figuratively) In literature, theatre/theater, etc., a character who helps emphasize the traits of the main character and who usually acts as an opponent or antagonist.
  5. (figuratively) Anything that acts by contrast to emphasise the characteristics of something.
  6. (fencing) A very thin sword with a blunted (or foiled) tip
  7. A thin, transparent plastic material on which marks are made and projected for the purposes of presentation. See transparency.
  8. (heraldry) A stylized flower or leaf.
  9. A hydrofoil.
  10. An aerofoil/airfoil.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms
Translations[edit]
shortened form of hydrofoil — see hydrofoil
shortened form of aerofoil/airfoil — see aerofoil

Verb[edit]

foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)

  1. (transitive) To cover or wrap with foil.

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English foilen (“spoil a scent trail by crossing it”), from Old French fouler (“tread on, trample”), ultimately from Latin fullō (“I trample, I full”).

Verb[edit]

foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)

  1. To prevent (something) from being accomplished.
    I was foiled by my superior
  2. To prevent (someone) from accomplishing something.
    They foiled my plans.
    • 1697, “The Seventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432:
      And by mortal man at length am foil'd.
    • 1812, Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. A Romaunt, London: Printed for John Murray, […]; William Blackwood, Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin; by Thomas Davison, […], OCLC 22697011, canto I, stanza LV:
      her long locks that foil the painter's power
    • 2011 December 10, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 1 - 0 Everton”, in BBC Sport‎[1]:
      First, former Toffee Mikel Arteta sent Walcott racing clear but instead of shooting he squared towards Ramsey, who was foiled by Tony Hibbert.
    • 2017 August 20, “The Observer view on the attacks in Spain”, in The Observer‎[2]:
      Many jihadist plots have been foiled and the security apparatus is getting better, overall, at pre-empting those who would do us ill. But, they say, the nature of the threat and the terrorists’ increasing use of low-tech, asymmetrical tactics such as hire vehicles and knives, make it all but impossible to stop every assault.
  3. To blunt; to dull; to spoil.
    to foil the scent in hunting
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Addison to this entry?)
  4. (obsolete) To tread underfoot; to trample.
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

foil (plural foils)

  1. Failure when on the point of attainment; defeat; frustration; miscarriage.
  2. One of the incorrect answers presented in a multiple-choice test.

Etymology 3[edit]

From French foulis.

Noun[edit]

foil (plural foils)

  1. (hunting) The track of an animal.
Synonyms[edit]
  • (track of an animal): spoor
Translations[edit]

Etymology 4[edit]

From mnemonic acronym FOIL (“First Outside Inside Last”).

Verb[edit]

foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)

  1. (mathematics) To expand a product of two or more algebraic expressions, typically binomials.
Translations[edit]

Etymology 5[edit]

See file.

Verb[edit]

foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)

  1. (obsolete) To defile; to soil.

Anagrams[edit]

Old French[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin folium. Compare fueille, from the plural of folium, folia.

Noun[edit]

foil m (oblique plural fouz or foilz, nominative singular fouz or foilz, nominative plural foil)

  1. leaf (green appendage of a plant which photosynthesizes)
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