spoil
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- Rhymes: -ɔɪl
Etymology[edit]
From Old French espoillier, from Latin spoliāre, present active infinitive of spoliō (“pillage, ruin, spoil”).
Verb[edit]
spoil (third-person singular simple present spoils, present participle spoiling, simple past and past participle spoiled or spoilt)
- (transitive, archaic) To strip (someone who has been killed or defeated) of their arms or armour. [from 14th c.]
- (transitive, archaic) To strip or deprive (someone) of their possessions; to rob, despoil. [from 14th c.]
- 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts IX:
- All that herde hym wer amased and sayde: ys nott this he that spoylled them whych called on this name in Jerusalem?
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VII:
- To do her dye (quoth Vna) were despight, / And shame t'auenge so weake an enimy; / But spoile her of her scarlot robe, and let her fly.
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, I.2.4.vii:
- Roger, that rich Bishop of Salisbury, [...] spoiled of his goods by King Stephen, [...] through grief ran mad, spoke and did he knew not what.
- 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts IX:
- (transitive, intransitive, archaic) To plunder, pillage (a city, country etc.). [from 14th c.]
- Spenser
- Outlaws, which, lurking in woods, used to break forth to rob and spoil.
- Spenser
- (transitive, obsolete) To carry off (goods) by force; to steal. [14th-19th c.]
- Bible, Mark iii. 27
- No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man.
- Bible, Mark iii. 27
- (transitive) To ruin; to damage (something) in some way making it unfit for use. [from 16th c.]
- Jeremy Taylor
- Spiritual pride spoils many graces.
- 2011, ‘What the Arab papers say’, The Economist, 5 Aug 2011:
- ‘This is a great day for us. Let us not spoil it by saying the wrong thing, by promoting a culture of revenge, or by failing to treat the former president with respect.’
- Jeremy Taylor
- (transitive) To ruin the character of, by overindulgence; to coddle or pamper to excess. [from 17th c.]
- (intransitive) Of food, to become bad, sour or rancid; to decay. [from 17th c.]
- Make sure you put the milk back in the fridge, otherwise it will spoil.
- (transitive) To render (a ballot paper) invalid by deliberately defacing it. [from 19th c.]
- 2003, David Nicoll, The Guardian, letter:
- Dr Jonathan Grant (Letters, April 22) feels the best way to show his disaffection with political parties over Iraq is to spoil his ballot paper.
- 2003, David Nicoll, The Guardian, letter:
- (transitive) To reveal the ending of (a story etc.); to ruin (a surprise) by exposing it ahead of time.
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]
ruin
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to coddle or pamper
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become sour or rancid, to decay
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Noun[edit]
spoil (plural spoils)
- (Also in plural: spoils) Plunder taken from an enemy or victim.
- (uncountable) Material (such as rock or earth) removed in the course of an excavation, or in mining or dredging. Tailings.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
plunder taken from an enemy or victim
material moved
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