Definition of 'spoil'
Word forms: 3rd person singular present tense spoils
, present participle spoiling
, past tense, past participle spoiled
or spoilt
language note: American English uses the form spoiled as the past tense and past participle. British English uses either spoiled or spoilt.
2. verb
If you spoil children, you give them everything they want or ask for. This is considered to have a bad effect on a child's character.
Grandparents are often tempted to spoil their grandchildren whenever they come to
visit. [VERB noun]
3. verb
4. verb
5. verb
6. plural noun
Phrasal verbs:
See spoil for
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
spoil in British English
verbWord forms: spoils, spoiling, spoilt or spoiled
4. (intransitive)
the fruit must be eaten before it spoils
5. (intransitive) sport
7. See be spoiling for
noun
10. obsolete
a.
the act of plundering
b.
a strategically placed building, city, etc, captured as plunder
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C13: from Old French espoillier, from Latin spoliāre to strip, from spolium booty
Word Frequency
spoil in American English
verb transitiveWord forms: spoiled or British spoilt, ˈspoiling
3.
verb intransitive
5.
to be damaged or injured in such a way as to become useless, valueless, etc.; specif.,
to decay, as food
6. Archaic
to pillage; plunder
noun
7. [usually pl.]
9.
waste material removed in making excavations, etc.
10. Archaic
the act of plundering; spoliation
11. Obsolete
damage; impairment
SIMILAR WORDS: deˈcay, inˈdulge, ˈinjure
Idioms:
SYNONYMY NOTE: spoil (now, more commonly, spoils) refers to any property, territory, etc. taken in war by the conqueror; pillage suggests violence and destructiveness in the taking of spoils; plunder is equivalent to pillage but also applies to property taken by bandits, highwaymen, etc.; booty1 suggests plunder taken by a band or gang, to be divided among the members; prize1 refers specifically to spoils taken at sea, esp. the taking of an enemy warship or
its cargo; loot, a more derogatory equivalent for any of the preceding, emphasizes the immorality
or predatory nature of the actWebster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
spoilable (ˈspoilable)
adjective
Word Frequency
spoil in American English
(spɔil) (verb spoiled or spoilt, spoiling)
transitive verb
1.
to damage severely or harm (something), esp. with reference to its excellence, value, usefulness, etc.
The water stain spoiled the painting
Drought spoiled the corn crop
3.
to impair, damage, or harm the character or nature of (someone) by unwise treatment, excessive indulgence, etc.
to spoil a child by pampering him
5. archaic
to take or seize by force
intransitive verb
6.
Milk spoils if not refrigerated
7.
to plunder, pillage, or rob
8. See be spoiling for
noun
SYNONYMS 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. 10.
the act of plundering
11.
an object of plundering
12. (usually spoils)
a.
the spoils of office
13.
14.
an imperfectly made object, damaged during the manufacturing process
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
spoilable adjective
spoilless
adjective
Word origin
[1300–50; (v.) ME spoilen ‹ OF espoillier ‹ L spoliāre to despoil, equiv. to spoli(um) booty + -āre inf. suffix; (n.) deriv. of the v. or ‹ OF espoille, deriv. of espoillier]Examples of 'spoil' in a sentence
spoil
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In other languages
spoil
British English: spoil
/spɔɪl/ VERB
ruin If you spoil something, you damage it or stop it from working as it should.
Don't spoil the surprise.
- American English: spoil /ˈspɔɪl/
- Arabic: يُفْسِدُ
- Brazilian Portuguese: estragar
- Chinese: 溺爱
- Croatian: pokvariti
- Czech: pokazit
- Danish: ødelægge
- Dutch: bederven
- European Spanish: echar a perder
- Finnish: pilata
- French: gâter
- German: verderben Spaß
- Greek: κακομαθαίνω
- Italian: viziare
- Japanese: 台無しにする
- Korean: (...을) 망쳐놓다
- Norwegian: skjemme bort
- Polish: popsuć
- European Portuguese: estragar
- Romanian: a strica
- Russian: портить
- Latin American Spanish: echar a perder
- Swedish: fördärva
- Thai: ทำลาย
- Turkish: berbat etmek
- Ukrainian: псувати
- Vietnamese: làm hỏng
British English: spoil
/spɔɪl/ VERB
child If you spoil children, you give them everything they want or ask for.
Grandparents are often tempted to spoil their grandchildren whenever they come to visit.
- American English: spoil /ˈspɔɪl/
- Arabic: يُدَلِّلُ
- Brazilian Portuguese: mimar
- Chinese: 宠溺
- Croatian: razmaziti
- Czech: rozmazlit
- Danish: forkæle
- Dutch: verwennen
- European Spanish: consentir
- Finnish: hemmotella
- French: gâter enfants
- German: verwöhnen
- Greek: κακομαθαίνω
- Italian: viziare
- Japanese: 甘やかす
- Korean: 망치다
- Norwegian: skjemme bort
- Polish: rozpieszczać
- European Portuguese: mimar
- Romanian: a răsfăța
- Russian: баловать
- Latin American Spanish: malcriar
- Swedish: skämma bort
- Thai: ตามใจจนเสียคน
- Turkish: şımartmak
- Ukrainian: балувати
- Vietnamese: làm hư
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