spoil meaning

UK /spɔɪl/ US /spɔɪl/ 1 syllable

spoil (verb): make a mess of, destroy or ruin.

spoil has 11 meanings in this dictionary, as verb and noun.

spoil as a verb

  1. make a mess of, destroy or ruin
    • I botched the dinner and we had to eat out
    • the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement

    Synonyms: botch, bodge, bumble, fumble, botch up, muff, blow, flub, screw up, ball up, muck up, bungle, fluff, bollix, bollix up, bollocks, bollocks up, bobble, mishandle, louse up, foul up, mess up, fuck up

    Type of: fail

    Related forms: spoilage, spoiling

  2. become unfit for consumption or use
    • the meat must be eaten before it spoils

    Synonyms: go bad

    Type of: decay

    Kinds: addle, curdle

    Related forms: spoilage, spoiling

  3. alter from the original

    Synonyms: corrupt

    Type of: modify

    Kinds: load

    Related forms: spoliation

  4. treat with excessive indulgence
    • grandparents often pamper the children
    • Let's not mollycoddle our students!

    Synonyms: pamper, featherbed, cosset, cocker, baby, coddle, mollycoddle, indulge

    Type of: treat

    Related forms: spoiler

  5. hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of
    • What ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruth's amazing September surge
    • foil your opponent

    Synonyms: thwart, queer, scotch, foil, cross, frustrate, baffle, bilk

    Type of: prevent

    Kinds: disappoint, dash, short-circuit, ruin

  6. have a strong desire or urge to do something
    • She is itching to start the project
    • He is spoiling for a fight

    Synonyms: itch

    Type of: desire

  7. destroy and strip of its possession
    • The soldiers raped the beautiful country

    Synonyms: rape, despoil, violate, plunder

    Type of: destroy

    Related forms: spoliation, spoilation

  8. make imperfect
    • nothing marred her beauty

    Synonyms: mar, impair, deflower, vitiate

    Type of: damage

    Kinds: defile, deface

spoil as a noun

  1. (usually plural) valuables taken by violence (especially in war)
    • to the victor belong the spoils of the enemy

    Type of: stolen property

  2. the act of spoiling something by causing damage to it
    • her spoiling my dress was deliberate

    Synonyms: spoiling, spoilage

    Type of: injury

  3. the act of stripping and taking by force

    Synonyms: spoliation, spoilation, despoilation, despoilment, despoliation

    Type of: plundering

How to pronounce spoil

spoil is pronounced /spɔɪl/ in British English and /spɔɪl/ in American English. It has 1 syllable.

Words that rhyme with spoil

Scrabble score: 7 (letter breakdown)

Word lists: words starting with SP · words ending in IL · 5-letter words

More about spoil on Wikipedia.