Cambridge Dictionaries online Cambridge Dictionaries online

The most popular online dictionary and thesaurus for learners of English

  

spoil

 
/spɔɪl/ v [I/T] (past tense and past participle spoiled
 
/spɔɪld/ or spoilt /spɔɪlt/
)
(DESTROY)

Definition

to destroy or damage something, or to become destroyed or damaged: [T] The oil spill spoiled five miles of coastline. [T] Don’t tell me how it ends, you’ll spoil the movie for me. [I] Food spoils quickly in hot weather.
(Definition of spoil v (DESTROY) from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

“spoil” in other dictionaries

More Results for “spoil”

Word of the Day

throw caution to the wind/winds

to do something without worrying about the risk or negative results

Word of the Day

Blog

Read our blog about how the English language behaves.

Learn More

New Words

Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.

Learn More