Spoil
Pronunciation
- enPR: spoil, IPA: /spɔɪl/
- Rhymes: -ɔɪl
Origin
From Old French espoillier, from Latin spoliÄre (""), present active infinitive of spoliÅ ("pillage, ruin, spoil").
Full definition of spoil
Verb
- (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.
- (ambitransitive, archaic) To plunder, pillage (a city, country etc.). from 14th c.
- SpenserOutlaws, which, lurking in woods, used to break forth to rob and spoil.
- (transitive, obsolete) To carry off (goods) by force; to steal. 14th-19th c.
- Bible, Mark iii. 27No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man.
- (transitive) To ruin; to damage (something) in some way making it unfit for use. from 16th c.
- Jeremy TaylorSpiritual 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.’
- (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.
- (transitive) To reveal the ending of (a story etc.); to ruin (a surprise) by exposing it ahead of time.
Noun
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.