Spoil

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Spoil \Spoil\ (spoil), v. 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.
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              My sons their old, unhappy sire despise,
              Spoiled of his kingdom, and deprived of eyes.
                                                    --Pope.
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     2. To seize by violence; to take by force; to plunder.
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              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.
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     3. To cause to decay and perish; to corrupt; to vitiate; to
        mar.
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              Spiritual pride spoils many graces.   --Jer. Taylor.
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     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.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Spoil \Spoil\, n. [Cf. OF. espoille, L. spolium.]
     1. That which is taken from another by violence; especially,
        the plunder taken from an enemy; pillage; booty.
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              Gentle gales,
              Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense
              Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole
              Those balmy spoils.                   --Milton.
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     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.
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              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.
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     3. That which is gained by strength or effort.
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              Each science and each art his spoil.  --Bentley.
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     4. The act or practice of plundering; robbery; waste.
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              The man that hath no music in himself,
              Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
              Is fit for treason, stratagems, and spoils. --Shak.
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     5. Corruption; cause of corruption. [Archaic]
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              Villainous company hath been the spoil of me.
                                                    --Shak.
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     6. The slough, or cast skin, of a serpent or other animal.
        [Obs.] --Bacon.
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     {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.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Spoil \Spoil\ (spoil), v. i.
     1. To practice plunder or robbery.
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              Outlaws, which, lurking in woods, used to break
              forth to rob and spoil.               --Spenser.
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     2. To lose the valuable qualities; to be corrupted; to decay;
        as, fruit will soon spoil in warm weather.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  spoil
       n 1: (usually plural) valuables taken by violence (especially in
            war); "to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy"
       2: the act of spoiling something by causing damage to it; "her
          spoiling my dress was deliberate" [syn: {spoiling}, {spoilage}]
       3: the act of stripping and taking by force [syn: {spoliation},
           {spoilation}, {despoilation}, {despoilment}, {despoliation}]
       v 1: make a mess of, destroy or ruin; "I botched the dinner and
            we had to eat out"; "the pianist screwed up the
            difficult passage in the second movement" [syn: {botch},
             {bumble}, {fumble}, {botch up}, {muff}, {blow}, {flub},
             {screw up}, {ball up}, {muck up}, {bungle}, {fluff}, {bollix},
             {bollix up}, {bollocks}, {bollocks up}, {bobble}, {mishandle},
             {louse up}, {foul up}, {mess up}, {fuck up}]
       2: become unfit for consumption or use; "the meat must be eaten
          before it spoils" [syn: {go bad}]
       3: alter from the original [syn: {corrupt}]
       4: treat with excessive indulgence; "grandparents often pamper
          the children"; "Let's not mollycoddle our students!" [syn:
           {pamper}, {featherbed}, {cosset}, {cocker}, {baby}, {coddle},
           {mollycoddle}, {indulge}]
       5: hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of; "What
          ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruth's amazing
          September surge"; "foil your opponent" [syn: {thwart}, {queer},
           {scotch}, {foil}, {cross}, {frustrate}, {baffle}, {bilk}]
       6: have a strong desire or urge to do something; "She is
          itching to start the project"; "He is spoiling for a
          fight" [syn: {itch}]
       7: destroy and strip of its possession; "The soldiers raped the
          beautiful country" [syn: {rape}, {despoil}, {violate}, {plunder}]
       8: make imperfect; "nothing marred her beauty" [syn: {mar}, {impair},
           {deflower}, {vitiate}]
       [also: {spoilt}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  206 Moby Thesaurus words for "spoil":
     accommodate, acquisition, baby, baffle, balk, be after,
     be all thumbs, be desirous of, be spoiling for, blackmail, blast,
     blemish, blight, blot, blunder, blunder away, blunder into,
     blunder on, blunder upon, boggle, boodle, booty, botch, brave,
     break down, break up, bumble, bungle, butcher, canker, cater to,
     challenge, checkmate, circumvent, cocker, coddle, commit a gaffe,
     confound, confront, contravene, corrupt, cosset, counter,
     counteract, countermand, counterwork, crave, cross, crumble,
     crumble into dust, curdle, damage, dash, decay, decompose, deface,
     defeat, defile, deflorate, defy, demolish, depredate, desecrate,
     desolate, despoil, destroy, devastate, discomfit, disconcert,
     discountenance, disfigure, dish, disintegrate, disrupt, dote on,
     dysphemize, elude, fall into decay, fall to pieces, faux pas,
     favor, fester, fleece, flounder, flummox, foil, forage, foray,
     force, freeboot, frustrate, fumble, gangrene, give way to, go bad,
     go off, go to pieces, goods, grab, graft, gratify, gut, harm, haul,
     hot goods, humor, hurt, impair, indulge, injure, itch for, kill,
     knock the chocks, look a fright, look a mess, look bad, look for,
     look like hell, look something terrible, loot, lumber, mar, maraud,
     mess up, mildew, miscue, mold, molder, mollycoddle, mortify,
     moulder, much, muddle, muff, murder, necrose, nonplus, oblige,
     offend, offend the eye, outrage, pamper, perks, perplex,
     perquisite, pickings, pillage, play havoc with, please, plunder,
     pork barrel, prejudice, prey on, prize, public till, public trough,
     putrefy, putresce, queer, raid, rankle, ransack, ravage, raven,
     ravish, reive, rifle, rot, ruin, sabotage, sack, satisfy, scar,
     scotch, slip, snafu, sphacelate, spike, spoils, spoils of office,
     spoliate, spoliation, squeeze, stealings, stolen goods, stonewall,
     stumble, stump, suppurate, swag, sweep, taint, take, tarnish,
     thwart, till, trip, turn, uglify, upset, violate, vitiate, waste,
     wreck, yearn for, yield to