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14 dictionary results for: foil
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
foil1 
[foil] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
[foil] Pronunciation Key –verb (used with object)
–noun
| 1. | to prevent the success of; frustrate; balk: Loyal troops foiled his attempt to overthrow the government. |
| 2. | to keep (a person) from succeeding in an enterprise, plan, etc. |
| 3. | Archaic. a defeat; check; repulse. |
—Related forms
foil·a·ble, adjective
—Synonyms 1. thwart; impede, hamper.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
foil2
[foil] Pronunciation Key
[foil] Pronunciation Key –noun
–verb (used with object)
| 1. | metal in the form of very thin sheets: aluminum foil. |
| 2. | the metallic backing applied to glass to form a mirror. |
| 3. | a thin layer of metal placed under a gem in a closed setting to improve its color or brilliancy. |
| 4. | a person or thing that makes another seem better by contrast: The straight man was an able foil to the comic. |
| 5. | Architecture. an arc or a rounded space between cusps, as in the tracery of a window or other ornamentation. |
| 6. | an airfoil or hydrofoil. |
| 7. | to cover or back with foil. |
| 8. | to set off by contrast. |
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME foille, foil < OF fuelle, fueille, foille (< L folia leaves), fuel, fueil, foil (< L folium leaf, blade)]
] —Synonyms 4. contrast, complement, counterpart.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
foil3
[foil] Pronunciation Key
[foil] Pronunciation Key –noun Fencing.
| 1. | a flexible four-sided rapier having a blunt point. |
| 2. | foils, the art or practice of fencing with this weapon, points being made by touching the trunk of the opponent's body with the tip of the weapon. |
[Origin: 1585–95; orig. uncert.]
]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| foil 1
(foil) Pronunciation Key
tr.v. foiled, foil·ing, foils
n. Archaic
[Middle English foilen, to trample, defile, variant of filen, to defile; see file3.] |
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| foil 2
(foil) Pronunciation Key
n.
tr.v. foiled, foil·ing, foils
[Middle English, from Old French foille, from Latin folia, pl. of folium, leaf; see bhel-3 in Indo-European roots.] |
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| foil 3
(foil) Pronunciation Key
n.
[Origin unknown.] |
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
foil (v.)
foil (v.)
c.1300, foilen "to spoil a trace or scent by running over it," from O.Fr. fouler "trample," from V.L. *fullare "to clean cloth" (by treading on it), from L. fullo "one who cleans cloth, fuller," of unknown origin. Sense of "frustrate the efforts of" first recorded 1664.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
foil (n.)
foil (n.)
"thin sheet of metal," 1398, from O.Fr. fueille "leaf," from L. folia "leaves," pl. (mistaken for fem. sing.) of folium "leaf" (see folio). The sense of "one who enhances another by contrast" (1581) is from the practice of backing a gem with metal foil to make it shine better. The meaning "light sword used in fencing" (1594) could be from this sense, or from foil (v.). The modern sense of "metallic food wrap" is from 1946.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| foil | |
noun | |
| 1. | a piece of thin and flexible sheet metal; "the photographic film was wrapped in foil" |
| 2. | anything that serves by contrast to call attention to another thing's good qualities; "pretty girls like plain friends as foils" |
| 3. | a device consisting of a flat or curved piece (as a metal plate) so that its surface reacts to the water it is passing through; "the fins of a fish act as hydrofoils" [syn: hydrofoil] |
| 4. | picture consisting of a positive photograph or drawing on a transparent base; viewed with a projector |
| 5. | a light slender flexible sword tipped by a button |
verb | |
| 1. | enhance by contrast; "In this picture, the figures are foiled against the background" |
| 2. | 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] |
| 3. | cover or back with foil; "foil mirrors" |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This
FOIL
File Oriented Interpretive Language. CAI language.
["FOIL - A File Oriented Interpretive Language", J.C. Hesselbart, Proc ACM 23rd National Conf (1968)].
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Foil
Foil\ (foil), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Foiled (foild); p. pr. & vb. n. Foiling.] [F. fouler to tread or trample under one's feet, to press, oppress. See Full, v. t.]1. To tread under foot; to trample. King Richard . . . caused the ensigns of Leopold to be pulled down and foiled under foot. --Knoless. Whom he did all to pieces breake and foyle, In filthy durt, and left so in the loathely soyle. --Spenser. 2. To render (an effort or attempt) vain or nugatory; to baffle; to outwit; to balk; to frustrate; to defeat. And by ? mortal man at length am foiled. --Dryden. Her long locks that foil the painter's power. --Byron. 3. To blunt; to dull; to spoil; as, to foil the scent in chase. --Addison.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Foil
Foil\, v. t. [See 6th File.] To defile; to soil. [Obs.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Foil
Foil\, n. 1. Failure of success when on the point of attainment; defeat; frustration; miscarriage. --Milton. Nor e'er was fate so near a foil. --Dryden. 2. A blunt weapon used in fencing, resembling a smallsword in the main, but usually lighter and having a button at the point. Blunt as the fencer's foils, which hit, but hurt not. --Shak. Isocrates contended with a foil against Demosthenes with a word. --Mitford. 3. The track or trail of an animal. To run a foil,to lead astray; to puzzle; -- alluding to the habits of some animals of running back over the same track to mislead their pursuers. --Brewer.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Foil
Foil\, n. [OE. foil leaf, OF. foil, fuil, fueil, foille, fueille, F. feuille, fr. L. folium, pl. folia; akin to Gr. ?, and perh. to E. blade. Cf. Foliage, Folio.]1. A leaf or very thin sheet of metal; as, brass foil; tin foil; gold foil. 2. (Jewelry) A thin leaf of sheet copper silvered and burnished, and afterwards coated with transparent colors mixed with isinglass; -- employed by jewelers to give color or brilliancy to pastes and inferior stones. --Ure. 3. Anything that serves by contrast of color or quality to adorn or set off another thing to advantage. As she a black silk cap on him began To set, for foil of his milk-white to serve. --Sir P. Sidney. Hector has a foil to set him off. --Broome. 4. A thin coat of tin, with quicksilver, laid on the back of a looking-glass, to cause reflection. 5. (Arch.) The space between the cusps in Gothic architecture; a rounded or leaflike ornament, in windows, niches, etc. A group of foils is called trefoil, quatrefoil, quinquefoil, etc., according to the number of arcs of which it is composed. Foil stone, an imitation of a jewel or precious stone.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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