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Webster 1913 Edition

Spoil

Spoil

(spoil)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Spoiled
(spoild)
or
Spoilt
(spoilt)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Spoiling
.]
[F.
spolier
, OF.
espoillier
, fr. L.
spoliare
, fr.
spolium
spoil. Cf.
Despoil
,
Spoliation
.]
1.
To plunder; to strip by violence; to pillage; to rob; – with of before the name of the thing taken;
as, to
spoil
one of his goods or possessions
.
“Ye shall spoil the Egyptians.”
Ex. iii. 22.
My sons their old, unhappy sire despise,
Spoiled
of his kingdom, and deprived of eyes.
Pope.
2.
To seize by violence; to take by force; to plunder.
No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and
spoil
his goods, except he will first bind the strong man.
Mark iii. 27.
3.
To cause to decay and perish; to corrupt; to vitiate; to mar.
Spiritual pride
spoils
many graces.
Jer. Taylor.
4.
To render useless by injury; to injure fatally; to ruin; to destroy;
as, to
spoil
paper; to have the crops
spoiled
by insects; to
spoil
the eyes by reading.

Spoil

(spoil)
,
Verb.
I.
1.
To practice plunder or robbery.
Outlaws, which, lurking in woods, used to break forth to rob and
spoil
.
Spenser.
2.
To lose the valuable qualities; to be corrupted; to decay;
as, fruit will soon
spoil
in warm weather
.

Spoil

,
Noun.
[Cf. OF.
espoille
, L.
spolium
.]
1.
That which is taken from another by violence; especially, the plunder taken from an enemy; pillage; booty.
Gentle gales,
Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense
Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole
Those balmy
spoils
.
Milton.
2.
Public offices and their emoluments regarded as the peculiar property of a successful party or faction, to be bestowed for its own advantage; – commonly in the plural;
as, to the victor belong the
spoils
.
From a principle of gratitude I adhered to the coalition; my vote was counted in the day of battle, but I was overlooked in the division of the
spoil
.
Gibbon.
3.
That which is gained by strength or effort.
Each science and each art his
spoil
.
Bentley.
4.
The act or practice of plundering; robbery; waste.
The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treason, stratagems, and
spoils
.
Shakespeare
5.
Corruption; cause of corruption.
[Archaic]
Villainous company hath been the
spoil
of me.
Shakespeare
6.
The slough, or cast skin, of a serpent or other animal.
[Obs.]
Bacon.
Spoil bank
,
a bank formed by the earth taken from an excavation, as of a canal.
–
The spoils system
,
the theory or practice of regarding public offices and their emoluments as so much plunder to be distributed among their active partisans by those who are chosen to responsible offices of administration.

Webster 1828 Edition

Spoil

SPOIL

,
Verb.
T.
[L., to pull asunder, to tear, to strip, to peel.]
1.
To plunder; to strip by violence; to rob; with of; as, to spoil one of his goods or possessions.
My sons their old unhappy sire despise, Spoild of his kingdom, and deprivd of eyes.
2.
To seize by violence; to take by force; as, to spoil ones goods.
This mount with all his verdure spoild--
3.
To corrupt; to cause to decay and perish. Heat and moisture will soon spoil vegetable and animal substances.
4.
To corrupt; to vitiate; to mar.
Spiritual pride spoils many graces.
5.
To ruin; to destroy. Our crops are sometimes spoiled by insects.
6.
To render useless by injury; as, to spoil paper by wetting it.
7.
To injure fatally; as, to spoil the eyes by reading.

SPOIL

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To practice plunder or robbery.
--Outlaws which, lurking in woods, used to break forth to rob and spoil.
2.
To decay; to lose the valuable qualities; to be corrupted; as, fruit will soon spoil in warm weather. Grain will spoil, if gathered when wet or moist.

SPOIL

,
Noun.
[L.]
1.
That which is taken from others by violence; particularly in war, the plunder taken from an enemy; pillage; booty.
2.
That which is gained by strength or effort.
Each science and each art his spoil.
3.
That which is taken from another without license.
Gentle gales fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole their balmy spoils.
4.
The act or practice of plundering; robbery; waste.
The man that hath not music in himself, nor is not movd with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treason, stratagems and spoils.
5.
Corruption; cause of corruption.
Villainous company hath been the spoil of me.
6.
The slough or cast skin of a serpent or other animal.

Definition 2024

spoil

spoil

English

Verb

spoil ‎(third-person singular simple present spoils, present participle spoiling, simple past and past participle spoiled or spoilt)

  1. (transitive, archaic) To strip (someone who has been killed or defeated) of their arms or armour. [from 14th c.]
  2. (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.
  3. (transitive, intransitive, archaic) To plunder, pillage (a city, country etc.). [from 14th c.]
    • Edmund Spenser (c.1552–1599)
      Outlaws, which, lurking in woods, used to break forth to rob and spoil.
  4. (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.
  5. (transitive) To ruin; to damage (something) in some way making it unfit for use. [from 16th c.]
    • Jeremy Taylor (1613–1677)
      Spiritual pride spoils many graces.
    • 1909, Archibald Marshall, The Squire's Daughter, chapterII:
      "I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." ¶ "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. […]"
    • 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.’
  6. (transitive) To ruin the character of, by overindulgence; to coddle or pamper to excess. [from 17th c.]
  7. (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.
  8. (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.
  9. (transitive) To reveal the ending of (a story etc.); to ruin (a surprise) by exposing it ahead of time.

Synonyms

Translations

Noun

spoil ‎(plural spoils)

  1. (Also in plural: spoils) Plunder taken from an enemy or victim.
  2. (uncountable) Material (such as rock or earth) removed in the course of an excavation, or in mining or dredging. Tailings.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English spoilen, spuylen, from Old French espoillier, espollier, espuler, from Latin spoliāre, present active infinitive of spoliō ‎(“pillage, ruin, spoil”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: spoil, IPA(key): /spɔɪl/
  • Rhymes: -ɔɪl

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