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Spoil vs Spile - What's the difference?

spoil | spile |

As verbs the difference between spoil and spile

is that spoil is (archaic) to strip (someone who has been killed or defeated) of their arms or armour while spile is to plug (a hole) with a spile or spile can be to support by means of spiles or spile can be (us|dialect|ambitransitive) spoil.

As nouns the difference between spoil and spile

is that spoil is (also in plural: spoils ) plunder taken from an enemy or victim while spile is a splinter or spile can be a pile; a post or girder.

spoil

English

Verb

  • (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:
  • All that herde hym wer amased and sayde: ys nott this he that spoylled them whych called on this name in Jerusalem?
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , VII:
  • 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.
  • *, I.2.4.vii:
  • Roger, that rich Bishop of Salisbury,through grief ran mad, spoke and did he knew not what.
  • (ambitransitive, archaic) To plunder, pillage (a city, country etc.).
  • * (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
  • Outlaws, which, lurking in woods, used to break forth to rob and spoil .
  • (obsolete) To carry off (goods) by force; to steal.
  • * (Bible), (w) iii. 27
  • No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man.
  • To ruin; to damage (something) in some way making it unfit for use.
  • * (Jeremy Taylor) (1613–1677)
  • 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. […]"
  • * 2011 , ‘What the Arab papers say’, The Economist , 5 Aug 2011:
  • ‘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.’
  • To ruin the character of, by overindulgence; to coddle or pamper to excess.
  • Of food, to become bad, sour or rancid; to decay.
  • Make sure you put the milk back in the fridge, otherwise it will spoil .
  • To render (a ballot paper) invalid by deliberately defacing it.
  • * 2003 , David Nicoll, The Guardian , letter:
  • 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 reveal the ending of (a story etc.); to ruin (a surprise) by exposing it ahead of time.
  • Synonyms

    * (ruin) damage, destroy, ruin * (coddle) coddle, indulge, mollycoddle

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (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.
  • Derived terms

    * spoiler

    See also

    * spoilage * spoils of war * spoilsport * spoilt * too many cooks spoil the broth

    Anagrams

    *

    spile

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) or (etyl) , (etyl) spile.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A splinter.
  • A spigot or plug used to stop the hole in a barrel or cask.
  • *1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4
  • *:So I felt my way down the passage back to the vault, and recked not of the darkness, nor of Blackbeard and his crew, if only I could lay my lips to liquor. Thus I groped about the barrels till near the top of the stack my hand struck on the spile of a keg, and drawing it, I got my mouth to the hold.
  • (US) A spout inserted in a maple (or other tree) to draw off sap.
  • Verb

    (spil)
  • To plug (a hole) with a spile.
  • To draw off (a liquid) using a spile.
  • To provide (a barrel, tree etc.) with a spile.
  • Etymology 2

    Alteration of (pile), after Etymology 1, above.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A pile; a post or girder.
  • Verb

    (spil)
  • To support by means of spiles.
  • Etymology 3

    Alteration of (l).

    Verb

    (spil)
  • (US, dialect, ambitransitive) spoil.
  • Anagrams

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