foil

  • 21foil — I. /fɔɪl / (say foyl) verb (t) 1. to frustrate (a person, an attempt, a purpose); baffle; baulk. 2. Obsolete to defeat; repulse; check. –noun 3. Obsolete a defeat; check; repulse. {Middle English foile(n), from Old French fuler trample. See… …

  • 22foil — I. transitive verb Etymology: Middle English, alteration of fullen to full cloth, from Anglo French foller more at full Date: 14th century 1. obsolete trample 2. a. to prevent from attaining an end ; defeat < always able to …

    New Collegiate Dictionary

  • 23foil — 01. The robbery was [foiled] by an off duty policeman who was in the bank at the time depositing his paycheck. 02. Once again, Superman [foiled] the villain s plans to take over the planet. 03. He was arrested following a [foiled] attempt to&#8230; …

    Grammatical examples in English

  • 24foil — foil1 [ fɔıl ] noun 1. ) uncount very light thin sheets of metal used for wrapping things, especially food: Wrap the cheese in foil to keep it moist. 2. ) count usually singular someone or something that makes another person or thing seem better&#8230; …

    Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • 25foil — English has three separate words foil. The oldest, ‘thwart’ [13], originally meant ‘trample’. It probably comes via Anglo Norman *fuler from Vulgar Latin *fullāre, a derivative of Latin fullō ‘person who cleans and bulks out cloth, originally by&#8230; …

    The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • 26foil — I [[t]fɔɪl[/t]] v. t. 1) to prevent the success of; frustrate; thwart 2) to keep (a person) from succeeding in an enterprise, plan, etc 3) archaic a defeat; check; repulse • Etymology: 1250–1300; ME &LT; AF foller, OF fuler to trample, full&#8230; …

    From formal English to slang

  • 27foil — English has three separate words foil. The oldest, ‘thwart’ [13], originally meant ‘trample’. It probably comes via Anglo Norman *fuler from Vulgar Latin *fullāre, a derivative of Latin fullō ‘person who cleans and bulks out cloth, originally by&#8230; …

    Word origins

  • 28foil — 1. noun /fɔɪl/ a) A very thin sheet of metal. but after giving her a dodge, heres another b follows me upon the foil. b) Thin aluminium/aluminum (or, formerly, tin) used for wrapping food. S …

    Wiktionary

  • 29foil — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) v. t. frustrate, battle, balk, circumvent. See hindrance. n. contrast, setoff; leaf, sheet (of metal); sword, épée. See opposition, layer, arms. II (Roget s IV) n. 1. [Leaf metal] Syn. aluminum foil,&#8230; …

    English dictionary for students

  • 30foil — {{11}}foil (n.) thin sheet of metal, early 14c., from O.Fr. fueille leaf, from L. folia leaves, pl. (mistaken for fem. sing.) of folium leaf (see FOLIO (Cf. folio)). The sense of one who enhances another by contrast (1580s) is from the practice&#8230; …

    Etymology dictionary