spoil

[ spoil ]

/ spɔɪl /

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR spoil ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), spoiled or spoilt, spoil·ing.

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.

verb (used without object), spoiled or spoilt, spoil·ing.

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.

noun

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.

Nearby words

Idioms

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

1300–50; (v.) Middle English spoilen < Old French espoillier < Latin spoliāre to despoil, equivalent to spoli(um) booty + -āre infinitive suffix; (noun) derivative of the v. or < Old French espoille, derivative of espoillier

SYNONYMS FOR spoil

1. disfigure, destroy, demolish, mar. Spoil, ruin, wreck agree in meaning to reduce the value, quality, usefulness, etc., of anything. Spoil is the general term: to spoil a delicate fabric. Ruin implies doing completely destructive or irreparable injury: to ruin one's health. Wreck implies a violent breaking up or demolition: to wreck oneself with drink; to wreck a building.

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Related formsspoil·a·ble, adjectivespoil·less, adjectiveun·spoil·a·ble, adjectiveun·spoiled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for spoiled

Yes, Mailer was, as he readily admitted, something of a spoiled Jewish boy.
Mailer’s Letters Pack a Punch and a Surprising Degree of Sweetness|Ronald K. Fried|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That kind of spoiled naïveté seems inexcusable in a clearly intelligent author who is pushing 30.
Time to Grow Up, Lena Dunham|Emily Shire|October 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Poor Stone, like most of us, forced to share a stage with this unpredictable, spoiled brat, looked uncomfortable.
Justin Bieber's Abs Cannot Save Him|Tim Teeman|September 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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 Iraq|Nathan Bradley Bethea|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Even stories of cruise ships in trouble with leaky toilets and spoiled food are popular.
The Racism of Disaster Coverage|Barbie Latza Nadeau|July 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To one like Danjou, spoiled with every kind of success, the affront was deadly.
The Immortal|Alphonse Daudet
She spoiled it all, however, by continually talking of the distaste she had for domestic obligations.
Six Bad Husbands and Six Unhappy Wives|Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Figure 212 is, however, a loop, as the circuit is spoiled on one side by an appendage.
The Science of Fingerprints|Federal Bureau of Investigation
No matter, I had 'spoiled the whole party and broke up the ball!'
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2, No. 2, August, 1862|Various
Where was that confident girl now—the girl who had been so sweetly "spoiled" by father and mother and sister, and adoring friends?
Shadows of Flames|Amelie Rives

British Dictionary definitions for spoiled

spoil

/ (spɔɪl) /

verb spoils, spoiling, spoilt or spoiled

(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)

noun

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

C13: from Old French espoillier, from Latin spoliāre to strip, from spolium booty

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

spoil

verb (used with object), spoiled or spoilt, spoil·ing.

verb (used without object), spoiled or spoilt, spoil·ing.

noun

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Idioms

Origin of spoil

Examples from the Web for spoiled

spoil

verb spoils, spoiling, spoilt or spoiled

noun

Word Origin for spoil

spoil

spoil

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