spoil

Etymology

From Middle English spoilen, spuylen, borrowed from Old French espoillier, espollier, espuler, from Latin spoliāre, present active infinitive of spoliō (“pillage, ruin, spoil”).

verb

1. (transitive, archaic) To strip (someone who has been killed or defeated) of their arms or armour.
2. (transitive, archaic) To strip or deprive (someone) of their possessions; to rob, despoil.
3. (transitive, intransitive, archaic) To plunder, pillage (a city, country etc.).
4. (transitive, obsolete) To carry off (goods) by force; to steal.
   They must likewise endeavour to be careful in looking after the rest of the Servants, that every one perform their duty in their several places, that they keep good hours in their up-rising and lying down, and that no Goods be either spoiled or embezelled. 1677, Hannah Woolley, The Compleat Servant-Maid, London: T. Passinger, page 35
5. (transitive) To ruin; to damage (something) in some way making it unfit for use.
   ‘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.’ 5 Aug 2011, “What the Arab papers say”, in The Economist
6. (transitive) To ruin the character of, by overindulgence; to coddle or pamper to excess.
7. (intransitive) Of food, to become bad, sour or rancid; to decay.
   Make sure you put the milk back in the fridge, otherwise it will spoil.
8. (transitive) To render (a ballot paper) invalid by deliberately defacing it.
   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. 2003, David Nicoll, The Guardian, letter
9. (transitive) To reveal the ending or major events of (a story etc.); to ruin (a surprise) by exposing it ahead of time.
   These include a brief but showstopping (and trailer-revealed) scene where Vanellope crashes a Disney Princess reunion, packed with gags and references that should send both young and old fans into paroxysms of glee. The princess confab also leads into a scene featuring Vanellope and the cast of Slaughter Race that probably shouldn’t be spoiled. 14 November 2018, Jesse Hassenger, “Disney Goes Viral with an Ambitious, Overstuffed Wreck-It Ralph Sequel”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2019-11-21
10. (aviation) To reduce the lift generated by an airplane or wing by deflecting air upwards, usually with a spoiler.

noun

1. (Also in plural: spoils) Plunder taken from an enemy or victim.
2. (archaic) The act of taking plunder from an enemy or victim; spoliation, pillage, rapine.
3. (uncountable) Material (such as rock or earth) removed in the course of an excavation, or in mining or dredging. Tailings. Such material could be utilised somewhere else.
   In view of the decline in freight traffic, it was strange to hear from Mr. Lambert that there is "a continuing problem of supplying, particularly for the civil engineer, the number of wagons required for carrying construction materials and spoil for various works." 1961 December, “Planning the London Midland main-line electrification”, in Trains Illustrated, page 721