[
US
/ˈspɔɪɫ/
]
[ UK /spˈɔɪl/ ]
[ UK /spˈɔɪl/ ]
VERB
-
hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of
foil your opponent
What ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruth's amazing September surge -
have a strong desire or urge to do something
She is itching to start the project
He is spoiling for a fight -
make imperfect
nothing marred her beauty -
destroy and strip of its possession
The soldiers raped the beautiful country - alter from the original
-
treat with excessive indulgence
grandparents often pamper the children
Let's not mollycoddle our students! -
make a mess of, destroy or ruin
the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement
I botched the dinner and we had to eat out -
become unfit for consumption or use
the meat must be eaten before it spoils
NOUN
-
the act of spoiling something by causing damage to it
her spoiling my dress was deliberate - the act of stripping and taking by force
-
(usually plural) valuables taken by violence (especially in war)
to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy
How To Use spoil In A Sentence
- Elizabeth had doted on her, spoiled her, given her everything a little girl can want.
- This day wilt thou either bring back in triumph the gory head and spoils of Aeneas, and we will avenge Lausus 'agonies; or if no force opens a way, thou wilt die with me: for I deem not, bravest, thou wilt deign to bear an alien rule and a Teucrian lord.' The Aeneid of Virgil
- Aren't you a spoiled child, without the childness and the spoiling, to go and write in that plaintive, solemn way about 'help of some connexions of Jane's in Glasgow,' as if you were a desolate orphan Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle
- So far, so good, so much more credible—and spoiled only slightly by the blandishment that those that fail should present plans for recapitalization "as swiftly as possible. Is This the End of the Beginning for the Euro Crisis?
- Too much spoils, too little is nothing.
- Isn't there something revolting about catering to the imagined needs of a tiny group of spoiled ladies, a Marie Antoinette–ish situation that reached its apotheosis when John Galliano showed his infamous clochard collection—the word means bum or hobo in French, and the tattered gowns, hand-stenciled to look filthy, trailed pots, pans, and other refuse—at the 1997 Dior haute couture show? Art in the Parks 3: Nan Kempner's Clothing
- The sad fact is that if the Democrats had tried to make a big issue of the matter the press would have criticized them unmercifully for spoiling the 100th birthday celebrations of a great man with their petty partisan politics.
- I say this because in the mid distance is the Swinden Limestone Quarry, and they are removing one hill, and making another with the quarry tailings, and successfully grassing over the spoil and planting trees.
- ‘Oh, well, Kin and Mic will be some fun even if you're a spoilsport,’ she said, and fixed her eyes on both of us.
- My daughter and husband bicker constantly - should I take his side and risk spoiling my relationship with her? Times, Sunday Times