spoil (n.)

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

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

    [ Syn: spoiling , spoilage ]

  3. the act of stripping and taking by force

    [ Syn: spoliation , spoilation , despoilation , despoilment , despoliation ]

    spoil (v.)

  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

    [ Syn: 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 ]

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

    [ Syn: go bad ]

  3. alter from the original

    [ Syn: corrupt ]

  4. treat with excessive indulgence; grandparents often pamper the children; Lets not mollycoddle our students!

    [ Syn: pamper , featherbed , cosset , cocker , baby , coddle , mollycoddle , indulge ]

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

    [ Syn: thwart , queer , scotch , foil , cross , frustrate , baffle , bilk ]

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

    [ Syn: itch ]

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

    [ Syn: rape , despoil , violate , plunder ]

  8. make imperfect; nothing marred her beauty

    [ Syn: mar , impair , deflower , vitiate ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.