a person who feels enmity, hatred, or malice toward another; enemy.
a bitter foe.
a military enemy; hostile army.
a person belonging to a hostile army or nation.
an opponent in a game or contest; adversary.
a political foe.
a person who is opposed in feeling, principle, etc., to something.
a foe to progress in civil rights.
a thing that is harmful to or destructive of something.
Sloth is the foe of health.
See enemy.
First recorded before 900; Middle English foo, Old English fāh “hostile,” gefāh “enemy”; cognate with Old High German gifēh “at war”; see origin at feud 1
A foe is an enemy. Foes can range from an adversary of one person to that of a nation, from “he is my foe” to “they are my foe.” There is also a “that is my foe” who those who are trying to diet know well, aka chocolate. A cousin of the word feud (though they don’t get a long of course) foe may refer to a military opponent or a personal nemesis or rival — Lex Luthor is Superman’s foe. Historically, foes often come in pairs — such as the North and the South in the Civil War. The word foe is sometimes used for an opposing concept or a thing — if you are on a diet, chocolate may be your foe.
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On Eubanks’ serve at 2-all in the first set, Big Foe got up early, earning three break-point opportunities.
From Washington Times • Aug. 3, 2022
"A Dark Foe" is available on demand on July 30.
From Salon • Jul. 28, 2021
It had a plaque on it which read: “From Foe to Friend.”
From Washington Post • Jun. 16, 2021
But, in 1972, the annual A.P.A. meeting featured a panel discussion titled “Psychiatry: Friend or Foe to Homosexuals?”
From The New Yorker • May 20, 2019
That there was some dramatic power in a few of her earlier efforts is evident, as she was applied to for permission to dramatise "Her Dearest Foe" and "By Woman's Wit."
From Notable Women Authors of the Day Biographical Sketches by Black, Helen C.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
