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spoil Definition

spoil (spo̵il)

transitive verb spoiled or Brit.spoilt, spoil′·ing

  1. to damage or injure in such a way as to make useless, valueless, etc.; destroy
  2. to mar or impair the enjoyment, quality, or functioning of rain spoiled the picnic
  3. to overindulge so as to cause to demand or expect too much
  4. Archaic
    1. to strip (a person) of goods, money, etc. by force
    2. to rob; pillage; plunder
    3. to seize (goods) by force

Etymology: ME spoilen < MFr espoillier < L spoliare, to plunder < spolium, arms taken from a defeated foe, plunder, orig., hide stripped from an animal < IE base *(s)p(h)el-, to split, tear off > spall, spill

intransitive verb

  1. to be damaged or injured in such a way as to become useless, valueless, etc.; specif., to decay, as food
  2. Archaic to pillage; plunder

noun

    1. goods, territory, etc. taken by force in war; plunder; loot; booty
    2. ☆ public offices to which the successful political party has the power of appointment
  2. an object of plunder; prey
  3. waste material removed in making excavations, etc.
  4. Archaic the act of plundering; spoliation
  5. Obsolete damage; impairment

Etymology: ME spoile < MFr espoille < L spolia, pl.

spoil Related Forms

spoil′·able adjective

spoil Idioms

be spoiling for

☆

to be aggressively eager for (a fight, etc.)

spoil Synonyms

spoil

v.

  1. To decay

    decay, rot, decompose, become tainted; see decay.

  2. To ruin

    destroy, defile, plunder; see disgrace. See syn. study at decay, indulge, injure.

spoil Usage Examples

Object

  • brat: The Face said I was a stupid spoilt rich kid brat making a cheap rubbish record.
  • broth: OLD DOG NEW TRICK Do too many cooks spoil the broth?
  • enjoyment: But that doesn't spoil the enjoyment of reading it.
  • surprise: Some examples are detailed below; let's not go into them here, it would only spoil the surprise.
  • ending: This film has nothing like that ( I hope that in saying that I haven't spoilt the ending for anyone ).
  • tactic: They in turn would accuse the red rose party of spoiling tactics.

Converse of object

  • dredge: The remainder is made up of construction and demolition wastes, mining and agricultural wastes, sewage sludge and dredged spoils.
  • excavate: During construction, a railroad was laid on the dock floor that allowed engines to remove wagons loaded with excavated spoil.
  • divide: There is simply no point in dividing the spoils among a select few whilst hoping that a few billion onlookers will not notice.
  • stack: Concentrated on enlarging working area at bottom and making space to stack spoil in not enough people to remove totally.

Modifies a noun

  • heap: Not a lot to see - some old walls; numerous shallow pits; spoil heaps.
  • dump: A steep slope was created from the spoil dump at the bottom of Pewter Pot to the current pool surface.
  • tip: The red spoil tips were left behind by the shale oil industry.

Noun used with modifier

  • colliery: Effects of the cessation of colliery spoil dumping on coastal processes.
  • dredge: Even so, production of sewage sludges, dredge spoils, mining tailings and exhaust gases are unlikely to fall significantly.
  • quarry: Terrestrial habitat associated with the breeding areas is quarry spoil, early successional vegetation and surrounding pasture.
  • mining: We now faced one of my favorite off-road sections, this being the fast meandering track through the mining spoil heaps.

Adjective complement

rotten: He was certainly spoilt rotten by all his fans, I mean, by our volunteers!

Preposition: of

war: Does he grow rich on the spoils of war?

Preposition: for

choice: Seafood lovers will be spoilt for choice in Mexico.