spoil
- to damage severely or harm (something), especially with reference to its excellence, value, usefulness, etc.: The water stain spoiled the painting. Drought spoiled the corn crop.
- to diminish or impair the quality of; affect detrimentally: Bad weather spoiled their vacation.
- to impair, damage, or harm the character or nature of (someone) by unwise treatment, excessive indulgence, etc.: to spoil a child by pampering him.
- Archaic. to strip (persons, places, etc.) of goods, valuables, etc.; plunder; pillage; despoil.
- Archaic. to take or seize by force.
- to become bad, or unfit for use, as food or other perishable substances; become tainted or putrid: Milk spoils if not refrigerated.
- to plunder, pillage, or rob.
- Often spoils. booty, loot, or plunder taken in war or robbery.
- the act of plundering.
- an object of plundering.
- Usually spoils.
- the emoluments and advantages of public office viewed as won by a victorious political party: the spoils of office.
- prizes won or treasures accumulated: a child's spoils brought home from a party.
- waste material, as that which is cast up in mining, excavating, quarrying, etc.
- an imperfectly made object, damaged during the manufacturing process.
- be spoiling for, Informal. to be very eager for; be desirous of: It was obvious that he was spoiling for a fight.
Origin of spoil
Synonyms for spoil
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words for spoiled
rotten, injured, corrupted, harmed, ruined, sour, wasted, marred, bad, self-indulgent, spoon-fedExamples from the Web for spoiled
Contemporary Examples of spoiled
Yes, Mailer was, as he readily admitted, something of a spoiled Jewish boy.
That kind of spoiled naïveté seems inexcusable in a clearly intelligent author who is pushing 30.
Poor Stone, like most of us, forced to share a stage with this unpredictable, spoiled brat, looked uncomfortable.
They have putrid California grapes for eyes, puffed-out cheeks of spoiled plums, sweltered eggplant lips.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in IraqNathan Bradley Bethea
August 31, 2014
Even stories of cruise ships in trouble with leaky toilets and spoiled food are popular.
Historical Examples of spoiled
She justly remarks that, since I saw it last, it is all spoiled into a great big cat.
MalboneThomas Wentworth Higginson
If only she had understood, and not spoiled, next morning, the effect of her words.
Ester Ried Yet SpeakingIsabella Alden
He was a spoiled child of fortune, if you wish to have it so.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
"But I can't see——" Aggie began to argue with the petulance of a spoiled child.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
The third act is "spoiled, by the characteristic Shakespearean language."
The Man ShakespeareFrank Harris
spoil
- (tr) to cause damage to (something), in regard to its value, beauty, usefulness, etc
- (tr) to weaken the character of (a child) by complying unrestrainedly with its desires
- (intr) (of perishable substances) to become unfit for consumption or usethe fruit must be eaten before it spoils
- (intr) sport to disrupt the play or style of an opponent, as to prevent him from settling into a rhythm
- archaic to strip (a person or place) of (property or goods) by force or violence
- be spoiling for to have an aggressive desire for (a fight, etc)
- waste material thrown up by an excavation
- any treasure accumulated by a personthis gold ring was part of the spoil
- obsolete
- the act of plundering
- a strategically placed building, city, etc, captured as plunder
Word Origin for spoil
Word Origin and History for spoiled
spoil
c.1300, from Old French espoillier "to strip, plunder," from Latin spoliare "to strip of clothing, rob," from spolium "armor stripped from an enemy, booty;" originally "skin stripped from a killed animal," from PIE *spol-yo-, perhaps from root *spel- "to split, to break off" (cf. Greek aspalon "skin, hide," spolas "flayed skin;" Lithuanian spaliai "shives of flax;" Old Church Slavonic rasplatiti "to cleave, split;" Middle Low German spalden, Old High German spaltan "to split;" Sanskrit sphatayati "splits").
Sense of "to damage so as to render useless" is from 1560s; that of "to over-indulge" (a child, etc.) is from 1640s (implied in spoiled). Intransitive sense of "to go bad" is from 1690s. To be spoiling for (a fight, etc.) is from 1865, from notion that one will "spoil" if he doesn't get it. Spoil-sport attested from 1801.
spoil
"goods captured in time of war," c.1300; see spoil (v.). Spoils system in U.S. politics attested by 1839, commonly associated with the administration of President Andrew Jackson, on the notion of "to the victor belongs the spoils."
Idioms and Phrases with spoiled
spoil
In addition to the idioms beginning with spoil
- spoil for
also see:
- spare the rod and spoil the child
- too many cooks spoil the broth
- to the victor belong the spoils