spoil

verb

(to cause) to go bad, decay, rot, damage

L11346 on Wikidata ↗

noun

material (such as rock or earth) removed during: excavation, mining, dredging

L27968 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /spɔɪl/

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Latin spolium Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin spoliāre Old French espoillierbor. Middle English spoilen English spoil From Middle English spoilen, spuylen, borrowed from Old French espoillier, espollier, espuler, from Latin spoliō, spoliāre (“pillage, ruin, spoil”).

Plunder taken from an enemy or victim.
“Thoſe thouſand horſe shall ſweat with martiall ſpoyle Of conquered kingdomes, and of Cities ſackt, […]”
The act of taking plunder from an enemy or victim; spoliation, pillage, rapine.
“This countrey ſwarmes with vile outragious men, That liue by rapine and by lawleſſe ſpoile, Fit ſouldiers for the wicked Tamburlaine.”
Material (such as rock or earth) removed in the course of an excavation, or in mining or dredging. Tailings. Such material could be utilised somewhere else.
“In view of the decline in freight traffic, it was strange to hear from Mr. Lambert that there is "a continuing problem of supplying, particularly for the civil engineer, the number of wagons required for carrying construction materials and spoil for various works."”

verb

To strip (someone who has been killed or defeated) of arms or armour.
To strip or deprive (someone) of possessions; to rob, despoil.
“All that herde hym wer amased and sayde: ys nott this he that spoylled them whych called on this name in Jerusalem?”
“To do her dye (quoth Vna) were despight, / And shame t'auenge so weake an enimy; / But spoile her of her scarlot robe, and let her fly.”
To plunder, pillage (a city, country etc.).
“Outlaws, which, lurking in woods, used to break forth to rob and spoil.”
To carry off (goods) by force; to steal.
“No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man.”
“They must likewise endeavour to be careful in looking after the rest of the Servants, that every one perform their duty in their several places, that they keep good hours in their up-rising and lying down, and that no Goods be either spoiled or embezelled.”
To ruin; to damage in such a way as to make undesirable or unusable.
“All this sun spoils me for vacations in the far North.”
“Spiritual pride […] spoils so many graces.”
To ruin the character of, by overindulgence; to coddle or pamper to excess.
To go bad; to become sour or rancid; to decay.
“Make sure you put the milk back in the fridge; otherwise it will spoil.”
To render (a ballot) invalid by deliberately defacing.
“Dr Jonathan Grant (Letters, April 22) feels the best way to show his disaffection with political parties over Iraq is to spoil his ballot paper.”
To prematurely reveal major events or the ending of (a story etc.); to ruin (a surprise) by exposing ahead of time as a spoiler.
“These include a brief but showstopping (and trailer-revealed) scene where Vanellope crashes a Disney Princess reunion, packed with gags and references that should send both young and old fans into paroxysms of glee. The princess confab also leads into a scene featuring Vanellope and the cast of Slaughter Race that probably shouldn’t be spoiled.”
To reduce the lift generated by an airplane or wing by deflecting air upwards, usually with a spoiler.
To be very eager (for something).
“Senator Toombs who announced his readiness to whip Great Britain [...] has been spoiling for a fight ever since”