Devastation vs Spoil - What's the difference?
devastation | spoil | Related terms |
The act of devastating]], or the state of being devastated; a [[lay waste, laying waste.
* 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/nyregion/new-jersey-continues-to-cope-with-hurricane-sandy.html?hp]," New York Times (retrieved 31 October 2012):
Waste of the goods of the deceased by an executor or administrator.
(archaic) To strip (someone who has been killed or defeated) of their arms or armour.
(archaic) To strip or deprive (someone) of their possessions; to rob, despoil.
* 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. (Bible) , (w) IX:
* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , VII:
*, I.2.4.vii:
(ambitransitive, archaic) To plunder, pillage (a city, country etc.).
* (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
(obsolete) To carry off (goods) by force; to steal.
* (Bible), (w) iii. 27
To ruin; to damage (something) in some way making it unfit for use.
* (Jeremy Taylor) (1613–1677)
*
* 2011 , ‘What the Arab papers say’, The Economist , 5 Aug 2011:
To ruin the character of, by overindulgence; to coddle or pamper to excess.
Of food, to become bad, sour or rancid; to decay.
To render (a ballot paper) invalid by deliberately defacing it.
* 2003 , David Nicoll, The Guardian , letter:
To reveal the ending of (a story etc.); to ruin (a surprise) by exposing it ahead of time.
(Also in plural: spoils ) Plunder taken from an enemy or victim.
(uncountable) Material (such as rock or earth) removed in the course of an excavation, or in mining or dredging]]. [[tailings, Tailings.
Devastation is a related term of spoil.
As nouns the difference between devastation and spoil
is that devastation is devastation, destruction while spoil is (also in plural: spoils ) plunder taken from an enemy or victim.As a verb spoil is
(archaic) to strip (someone who has been killed or defeated) of their arms or armour.devastation
English
Noun
(en noun)- Perhaps as startling as the sheer toll was the devastation to some of the state’s well-known locales. Boardwalks along the beach in Seaside Heights, Belmar and other towns on the Jersey Shore were blown away. Amusement parks, arcades and restaurants all but vanished. Bridges to barrier islands buckled, preventing residents from even inspecting the damage to their property.
spoil
English
Verb
- 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.
- Roger, that rich Bishop of Salisbury,through grief ran mad, spoke and did he knew not what.
- Outlaws, which, lurking in woods, used to break forth to rob and spoil .
- No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man.
- Spiritual pride spoils many graces.
- "I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." ¶ "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. […]"
- ‘This is a great day for us. Let us not spoil it by saying the wrong thing, by promoting a culture of revenge, or by failing to treat the former president with respect.’
- Make sure you put the milk back in the fridge, otherwise it will spoil .
- 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.