SPOIL (spoilt)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: spoilt   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does spoil mean? 

• SPOIL (noun)
  The noun SPOIL has 3 senses:

1. (usually plural) valuables taken by violence (especially in war)

2. the act of spoiling something by causing damage to it

3. the act of stripping and taking by force

  Familiarity information: SPOIL used as a noun is uncommon.

• SPOIL (verb)
  The verb SPOIL has 8 senses:

1. make a mess of, destroy or ruin

2. become unfit for consumption or use

3. alter from the original

4. treat with excessive indulgence

5. hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of

6. have a strong desire or urge to do something

7. destroy and strip of its possession

8. make imperfect

  Familiarity information: SPOIL used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPOIL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(usually plural) valuables taken by violence (especially in war)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Context example:

to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy

Hypernyms ("spoil" is a kind of...):

stolen property (property that has been stolen)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Derivation:

spoil (destroy and strip of its possession)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of spoiling something by causing damage to it

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

spoil; spoilage; spoiling

Context example:

her spoiling my dress was deliberate

Hypernyms ("spoil" is a kind of...):

injury (an act that causes someone or something to receive physical damage)

Derivation:

spoil (make imperfect)

spoil (make a mess of, destroy or ruin)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of stripping and taking by force

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

despoilation; despoilment; despoliation; spoil; spoilation; spoliation

Hypernyms ("spoil" is a kind of...):

pillage; pillaging; plundering (the act of stealing valuable things from a place)

Derivation:

spoil (destroy and strip of its possession)

• SPOIL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they spoil    ... he / she / it spoils   
Past simple: spoiled    / spoilt   
Past participle: spoiled    / spoilt   
-ing form: spoiling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a mess of, destroy or ruin

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

ball up; blow; bobble; bodge; bollix; bollix up; bollocks; bollocks up; botch; botch up; bumble; bungle; flub; fluff; foul up; fuck up; fumble; louse up; mess up; mishandle; muck up; muff; screw up; spoil

Context example:

the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement

Hypernyms (to "spoil" is one way to...):

fail; go wrong; miscarry (be unsuccessful)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

spoil; spoilage; spoiling (the act of spoiling something by causing damage to it)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become unfit for consumption or use

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

go bad; spoil

Context example:

the meat must be eaten before it spoils

Hypernyms (to "spoil" is one way to...):

decay (undergo decay or decomposition)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spoil"):

addle (become rotten)

curdle (go bad or sour)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

spoilage; spoiling (the process of becoming spoiled)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Alter from the original

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

corrupt; spoil

Hypernyms (to "spoil" is one way to...):

modify (make less severe or harsh or extreme)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spoil"):

adulterate; debase; dilute; load; stretch (corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

spoliation ((law) the intentional destruction of a document or an alteration of it that destroys its value as evidence)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Treat with excessive indulgence

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

baby; cocker; coddle; cosset; featherbed; indulge; mollycoddle; pamper; spoil

Context example:

Let's not mollycoddle our students!

Hypernyms (to "spoil" is one way to...):

do by; handle; treat (interact in a certain way)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

spoiler (someone who pampers or spoils by excessive indulgence)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

baffle; bilk; cross; foil; frustrate; queer; scotch; spoil; thwart

Context example:

foil your opponent

Hypernyms (to "spoil" is one way to...):

forbid; foreclose; forestall; preclude; prevent (keep from happening or arising; make impossible)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spoil"):

disappoint; let down (fail to meet the hopes or expectations of)

dash (destroy or break)

short-circuit (hamper the progress of; impede)

ruin (destroy or cause to fail)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Have a strong desire or urge to do something

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

itch; spoil

Context example:

He is spoiling for a fight

Hypernyms (to "spoil" is one way to...):

desire; want (feel or have a desire for; want strongly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Sense 7

Meaning:

Destroy and strip of its possession

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

despoil; plunder; rape; spoil; violate

Context example:

The soldiers raped the beautiful country

Hypernyms (to "spoil" is one way to...):

destroy; ruin (destroy completely; damage irreparably)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

spoil (the act of stripping and taking by force)

spoil ((usually plural) valuables taken by violence (especially in war))

spoilation; spoliation (the act of stripping and taking by force)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Make imperfect

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

deflower; impair; mar; spoil; vitiate

Context example:

nothing marred her beauty

Hypernyms (to "spoil" is one way to...):

damage (inflict damage upon)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spoil"):

cloud; corrupt; defile; sully; taint (place under suspicion or cast doubt upon)

blemish; deface; disfigure (mar or spoil the appearance of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

spoil (the act of spoiling something by causing damage to it)

 Context examples 

She said when you spoiled the others that she shouldn't get you any more this winter.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

"You've spoiled everything, Ned," she said.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If Jemima were not the trustiest, steadiest creature in the world, it would be enough to spoil her; for she tells me, they are always tempting her to take a walk with them.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

She had been indulged from her birth, but was not absolutely spoilt.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

"You called them hack-work. You wrote many of them. Didn't they spoil your style?"

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I was put to bed: however, I received no other damage than the loss of a suit of clothes, which was utterly spoiled.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Quelala was much too wise not to swim, and he was not in the least spoiled by all his good fortune.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

At the spoiling of Carcasonne I have seen chambers stored with writing, though not one man in our Company could read them.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

People tell me that I have spoiled him.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“What, he spoilt you, I suppose?” returned Miss Betsey.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)