spoil

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spoil / spoil/ • v. (past and past part. spoiled or chiefly Brit. spoilt / spoilt/ ) [tr.] 1. diminish or destroy the value or quality of: I wouldn't want to spoil your fun a series of political blunders spoiled their chances of being reelected. ∎  prevent someone from enjoying (an occasion or event): she was afraid of spoiling Christmas for the rest of the family. ∎  [intr.] (of food) become unfit for eating: I've got some ham that'll spoil if we don't eat it tonight.2. harm the character of (a child) by being too lenient or indulgent: the last thing I want to do is spoil Thomas | [as adj.] ( spoiled) a spoiled child. ∎  treat with great or excessive kindness, consideration, or generosity: breakfast in bed—you're spoiling me!3. [intr.] (be spoiling for) be extremely or aggressively eager for: Cooper was spoiling for a fight.4. archaic rob (a person or a place) of goods or possessions by force or violence.• n. 1. (usu. spoils) goods stolen or taken forcibly from a person or place: the looters carried their spoils away.2. waste material brought up during the course of an excavation or a dredging or mining operation.

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