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spoilt

 - 6 dictionary results

spoilt

  [spoilt]
–verb
a pt. and pp. of spoil.

spoil

  [spoil] verb, spoiled or spoilt, spoil⋅ing, noun
–verb (used with object)
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.
2. to diminish or impair the quality of; affect detrimentally: Bad weather spoiled their vacation.
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.
4. Archaic. to strip (persons, places, etc.) of goods, valuables, etc.; plunder; pillage; despoil.
5. Archaic. to take or seize by force.
–verb (used without object)
6. to become bad, or unfit for use, as food or other perishable substances; become tainted or putrid: Milk spoils if not refrigerated.
7. to plunder, pillage, or rob.
–noun
8. Often, spoils. booty, loot, or plunder taken in war or robbery.
9. the act of plundering.
10. an object of plundering.
11. Usually, spoils.
a. the emoluments and advantages of public office viewed as won by a victorious political party: the spoils of office.
b. prizes won or treasures accumulated: a child's spoils brought home from a party.
12. waste material, as that which is cast up in mining, excavating, quarrying, etc.
13. an imperfectly made object, damaged during the manufacturing process.
—Idiom
14. be spoiling for, Informal. to be very eager for; be desirous of: It was obvious that he was spoiling for a fight.
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

Related forms:
spoil⋅a⋅ble, adjective
spoilless, adjective

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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To spoilt
spoil   (spoil)   
v.   spoiled or spoilt (spoilt), spoil·ing, spoils

v.   tr.

    1. To impair the value or quality of.

    2. To damage irreparably; ruin.

    3. To plunder; despoil.

    4. To take by force.

  2. To impair the completeness, perfection, or unity of; flaw grievously: spoiled the party.

  3. To do harm to the character, nature, or attitude of by oversolicitude, overindulgence, or excessive praise. See Synonyms at pamper.

  4. Archaic

    1. To plunder; despoil.

    2. To take by force.

v.   intr.

  1. To become unfit for use or consumption, as from decay. Used especially of perishables, such as food. See Synonyms at decay.

  2. To pillage.

n.  

  1. spoils

    1. Goods or property seized from a victim after a conflict, especially after a military victory.

    2. Incidental benefits reaped by a winner, especially political patronage enjoyed by a successful party or candidate.

  2. An object of plunder; prey.

  3. Refuse material removed from an excavation.

  4. Archaic The act of plundering; spoliation.

Phrasal Verb(s):
spoil forTo be eager for: spoiling for a fight.

[Middle English spoilen, to plunder, from Old French espoillier, from Latin spoliāre, from spolium, booty.]
spoilt   (spoilt)   
v.  A past tense and a past participle of spoil.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
spoil

  1. tv.
    to kill someone. : It was Joel Cairo's job to make sure that nobody got close enough to Mr. Big to spoil him.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

spoil 
c.1300, from O.Fr. espoillier "to strip, plunder," from L. 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 base *spel- "to split, to break off" (cf. Gk. aspalon "skin, hide," spolas "flayed skin;" Lith. spaliai "shives of flax;" O.C.S. rasplatiti "to cleave, split;" M.L.G. spalden, O.H.G. spaltan "to split;" Skt. sphatayati "splits"). Sense of "to damage so as to render useless" is from 1563; that of "to over-indulge" (a child, etc.) is from 1648 (implied in spoiled). Intransitive sense of "to go bad" is from 1692. To be spoiling for (a fight, etc.) is from 1865, from notion that one will "spoil" if he doesn't get it. The noun meaning "goods captured in time of war" is from c.1300. Spoiler "one who ruins an opponent's chances" is from 1950. Spoil-sport attested from 1801.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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