spoil
[verb]
Synonyms:
- ruin, damage, destroy, disfigure, harm, impair, injure, mar, mess up, trash (slang), wreck
- overindulge, coddle, cosset, indulge, mollycoddle, pamper
- go bad, addle, curdle, decay, decompose, go off (Brit. informal), rot, turn

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Related Idioms: spoil (one) rotten, spoil to death
Related Words: acquisition, grab, haul, take, pickings, stealings, pillage, spoliation, snafu, ruin, wreck, demolish, destroy, accommodate, favor, oblige

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English Thesaurus: bitter, sharp, sour, acidic, tangy, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. spoil¹ S3 /spɔɪl/ verb (past tense and past participle spoiled or spoilt /spɔɪlt/ British English)
[Word Family: noun: spoils, spoil, spoiler; verb: spoil; adjective: SPOILT/SPOILED ≠ UNSPOILT/UNSPOILED]
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: espoillier, from Latin spoliare 'to strip, rob', from spolium; SPOILS]

1. DAMAGE [transitive] to have a bad effect on something so that it is no longer attractive, enjoyable, useful etc Synonym : ruin:
The whole park is spoiled by litter.
We didn’t let the incident spoil our day.
I don’t want to spoil your fun.
Why do you always have to spoil everything? ⇒ spoil/ruin your appetite at appetite(1)

2. TREAT TOO KINDLY [transitive] to give a child everything they want, or let them do whatever they want, often with the result that they behave badly:
She’s an only child, but they didn’t really spoil her.
His mother and sisters spoil him rotten (=spoil him very much).

3. TREAT KINDLY [transitive] to look after someone in a way that is very kind or too kind:
You’ll have to let me spoil you on your birthday.
spoil yourself
Go on, spoil yourself. Have another piece of cake.

4. DECAY [intransitive] to start to decay:
Food will spoil if the temperature in your freezer rises above 8°C.

5. VOTING [transitive] British English to mark a ballot paper wrongly so that your vote is not included

6. be spoiling for a fight/argument to be very eager to fight or argue with someone

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. spoil² noun
[Word Family: noun: spoils, spoil, spoiler; verb: spoil; adjective: SPOILT/SPOILED ≠ UNSPOILT/UNSPOILED]

1. spoils [plural] formal
a) the things that someone gets by being successful:
They tried to take more than a fair share of the spoils.
b) things taken by an army from a defeated enemy, or things taken by thieves
the spoils of war/victory etc

2. [uncountable] waste material such as earth and stones from a mine or hole in the ground:
spoil heaps

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

spoil
verb
I. make sth useless/unsuccessful/not very good
ADV. completely, quite Her selfish behaviour completely spoiled the evening.
rather, slightly, somewhat
VERB + SPOIL mustn't, not be going to, not want to I don't want to spoil things for everyone else.
be a pity to It would be a pity to spoil the surprise.
try to | not let sth Don't let the bad weather spoil your holiday.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

spoil
II. a child
PREP. with spoiling the children with expensive toys
PHRASES be completely/thoroughly/utterly spoilt Those children are thoroughly spoilt!
spoil sb rotten My grandparents used to spoil me rotten.
a spoilt brat/child

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

bitter having a strong sharp taste that is not sweet, like black coffee without sugar - used especially about chocolate, medicine etc:
The dessert is made with a slightly bitter chocolate.
Hops give beer its distinctive bitter taste.
The medicine tasted bitter.
As the lettuce gets older, the leaves become more bitter.
sharp having a taste that makes your tongue sting slightly:
Rhubarb has quite a sharp taste.
The cheese has a pleasing colour and a pleasantly sharp flavour.
sour having a usually unpleasant sharp acid taste, like the taste of a lemon, or a fruit that is not ready to be eaten – used especially about fruit, or about liquids that have gone bad:
Some people say that the purpose of the lemon’s sour taste is to stop the fruit being eaten by animals.
Rachel sampled the wine. It was sour.
acidic very sour – used especially about liquids or things made with fruits such as oranges, lemons, or grapes:
Some fruit juices taste a bit acidic.
tangy having a taste that is pleasantly strong or sharp, and that often tastes a little sweet as well:
The ribs are cooked in a tangy barbecue sauce.
tart having a taste that lacks sweetness – used especially about fruit such as apples, which you need to add sugar to:
The pudding had rather a tart flavour.
The trees were covered with tart wild plums.
spoil to have a bad effect on something so that it is much less attractive, enjoyable etc:
New housing developments are spoiling the countryside.
The bad weather completely spoiled our holiday.
ruin to spoil something completely and permanently:
Using harsh soap to wash your face can ruin your skin.
The argument ruined the evening for me.
mar written to spoil something by making it less attractive or enjoyable:
His handsome Arab features were marred by a long scar across his face.
Outbreaks of fighting marred the New Year celebrations.
detract from something to slightly spoil something that is generally very good, beautiful, or impressive:
The huge number of tourists rather detracts from the city’s appeal.
There were a few minor irritations, but this did not detract from our enjoyment of the holiday.
undermine to spoil something that you have been trying to achieve:
The bombings undermined several months of careful negotiations.
poison to spoil a close relationship completely, so that people can no longer trust each other:
Their marriage was poisoned by a terrible dark secret.
mess something up informal to spoil something important or something that has been carefully planned:
If there’s any delay, it will mess up our whole schedule.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

damage to cause physical harm to something or someone, or have a bad effect on them:
Several buildings were damaged by the earthquake.
The other car wasn’t damaged.
The scandal could damage his career.
harm to have a bad effect on something:
They use chemicals that will harm the environment.
The oil crisis could harm the economy.
spoil to have a bad effect on something and make it less successful, enjoyable, useful etc:
We didn’t let the rain spoil our holiday.
Local people say the new buildings will spoil the view.
vandalize to deliberately damage buildings, vehicles, or public property:
All the public telephones in the area had been vandalized.
sabotage /ˈsæbətɑːʒ/ to secretly damage machines or equipment so that they cannot be used, especially in order to harm an enemy:
There is evidence that the airplane was sabotaged.
tamper with something to deliberately and illegally damage or change a part of something in order to prevent it from working properly:
The car’s brakes had been tampered with.
desecrate to damage a church or other holy place:
The church had been desecrated by vandals.
deface /dɪˈfeɪs/ to deliberately spoil the appearance of something by writing on it, spraying paint on it etc:
Someone had defaced the statue and painted it bright orange.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

decay to be slowly destroyed by a natural chemical process – use this especially about natural things such as wood or plants, or about teeth:
The leaves decay and enrich the soil.
He had bad breath and decaying teeth.
The fabric slowly began to decay.
rot to decay. Rot is less formal than decay and is more common in everyday English:
The fruit was left to rot on the ground.
rotting teeth
Most of the wood under the paint had rotted.
the smell of rotting vegetation (=decaying leaves and plants)
go off British English if food goes off, it starts to smell bad and is no longer be safe to eat:
I think the milk’s gone off.
The meat smells as if it's gone off.
spoil if food spoils, it starts to decay, so that it is no longer safe to eat. Spoil is more formal and is less common in everyday British English than go off:
Food left in the sun will quickly start to spoil.
go mouldy British English, moldy American English to begin to have a soft green or black substance growing on the surface of the food, so that it is not good to eat any more:
Ugh, the cheese has gone mouldy!
decompose formal to decay – use this especially about dead plants or flesh:
leaves decomposing on the forest floor
putrefy formal to decay and have a very bad smell – use this especially about flesh or plants:
After two days, the body was already beginning to putrefy.
putrefying meat
biodegrade to decay naturally into substances that do not harm the environment – use this especially about man-made materials and chemicals:
Unlike many other materials, plastic does not biodegrade.
cause decay
Bacteria stick to food and cause decay.
prevent decay
You can use a preservative on the wood to prevent further decay.
tooth/dental decay
Eating too much sugar causes tooth decay.
natural decay
Everything in our environment is subject to natural decay.
the process of decay
The natural processes of decay gradually destroys archaeological sites.
a sign of decay
I couldn't see any signs of decay on the fruit.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

spoil to have a bad effect on something so that it is much less attractive, enjoyable etc:
New housing developments are spoiling the countryside.
The bad weather completely spoiled our holiday.
ruin to spoil something completely and permanently:
Using harsh soap to wash your face can ruin your skin.
The argument ruined the evening for me.
mar written to spoil something by making it less attractive or enjoyable:
His handsome Arab features were marred by a long scar across his face.
Outbreaks of fighting marred the New Year celebrations.
detract from something to slightly spoil something that is generally very good, beautiful, or impressive:
The huge number of tourists rather detracts from the city’s appeal.
There were a few minor irritations, but this did not detract from our enjoyment of the holiday.
undermine to spoil something that you have been trying to achieve:
The bombings undermined several months of careful negotiations.
sour to spoil a friendly relationship between people or countries:
The affair has soured relations between the UK and Russia.
poison to spoil a close relationship completely, so that people can no longer trust each other:
Their marriage was poisoned by a terrible dark secret.
mess something up informal to spoil something important or something that has been carefully planned:
If there’s any delay, it will mess up our whole schedule.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲