spoil

/spɔɪl/

/spɔɪl/

Other forms: spoiled; spoils

When you spoil something, you destroy it or ruin its quality. If you spoil a surprise, you tell the secret you were supposed to keep.

When you spoil something, you mess it up, like spoiling someone's good mood by bringing up a painful memory. Food can also spoil, or become unsafe for eating, and you can spoil a child by always giving him everything he wants, making him unable to cope when things don't go his way. The word spoil comes from the Old French espoillier, to plunder. In fact, things taken by force are called spoils, like the spoils of war.

Definitions of spoil

1. verb

   make a mess of, destroy or ruin
   synonyms: ball up, blow, bobble, bodge, bollix, bollix up, botch, botch up, bumble, bungle, butcher, flub, fluff, foul up, fumble, louse up, mess up, mishandle, muck up, muff, screw up

   type of:

   fail, go wrong, miscarry

   be unsuccessful
2. verb

   make imperfect
   synonyms: deflower, impair, mar, vitiate

   types:

   cloud, corrupt, defile, pollute, sully, taint, tarnish

   place under suspicion or cast doubt upon

   blemish, deface, disfigure

   mar or spoil the appearance of

   mangle, maul

   injure badly by beating

   mark, pit, pock, scar

   mark with a scar

   type of:

   damage

   inflict damage upon
3. verb

   destroy and strip of its possession
   synonyms: despoil, plunder, rape, violate

   type of:

   destroy, ruin

   destroy completely; damage irreparably
4. verb

   alter from the original
   synonyms: corrupt

   types:

   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

   water down

   thin by adding water to

   doctor, doctor up, sophisticate

   alter and make impure, as with the intention to deceive

   type of:

   modify

   make less severe or harsh or extreme
5. verb

   hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of
   synonyms: baffle, bilk, confound, cross, foil, frustrate, queer, scotch, scuttle, thwart

   types:

   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

   betray, fail

   disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake

   come short, fall short

   fail to meet (expectations or standards)

   disenchant, disillusion

   free from enchantment

   undo

   cause the ruin or downfall of

   break

   cause the failure or ruin of

   shipwreck

   ruin utterly

   type of:

   forbid, foreclose, forestall, preclude, preempt, prevent

   keep from happening or arising; make impossible
6. noun

   the act of spoiling something by causing damage to it
   “her spoiling my dress was deliberate”

   synonyms: spoilage, spoiling

   type of:

   injury

   an act that causes someone or something to receive physical damage
7. noun

   the act of stripping and taking by force
   synonyms: despoilation, despoilment, despoliation, spoilation, spoliation

   type of:

   pillage, pillaging, plundering

   the act of stealing valuable things from a place
8. noun

   (usually plural) valuables taken by violence (especially in war)
   “to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy”

   type of:

   stolen property

   property that has been stolen
9. verb

   become unfit for consumption or use
   “the meat must be eaten before it spoils”

   synonyms: go bad

   types:

   addle

   become rotten

   curdle

   go bad or sour

   type of:

   decay, degrade

   undergo decay or decomposition
10. verb

    treat with excessive indulgence
    synonyms: baby, cocker, coddle, cosset, featherbed, indulge, mollycoddle, pamper

    type of:

    do by, handle, treat

    interact in a certain way
11. verb

    have a strong desire or urge to do something
    “He is spoiling for a fight”

    synonyms: itch

    type of:

    desire, want

    feel or have a desire for; want strongly