FOIL


Meaning of FOIL in English

I. ˈfȯil, esp before pause or consonant -ȯiəl transitive verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: Middle English foilen to trample, full (cloth), modification of Middle French fouler — more at full

1. obsolete : to tread under foot : trample

2. : to spoil (a trail or scent) by crossing or retracing

3.

a. : to prevent (a person) from attaining a desired end : keep from achieving a goal : defeat , repulse

foiled at Council Bluffs … they turned toward the southwest — R.A.Billington

b. : to bring (as a scheme, an effort, an attack) to naught : make vain and ineffectual : baffle

intelligence as a means to foil brute force — Lafcadio Hearn

Synonyms: see frustrate

II. noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English foyle, from foilen, v.

1. archaic : defeat , check , frustration

2. obsolete : an incomplete fall in wrestling

3. also foil·ing ˈfȯiliŋ archaic : the track or trail of an animal

4.

a. : a fencing weapon that resembles an épée but has a flat guard which may be round, oval, rectangular, or figure-eight in outline and a lighter and more flexible blade of rectangular or square cross section tapering to a blunt point

b. foils plural : the art or practice of fencing with foils that limits the target to the trunk

III. noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English foile, foil, from Middle French fuelle, fueille, foille (from Latin folia, plural of folium ) & fuel, fueil, foil, from Latin folium — more at blade

1. : a plant leaf — now used chiefly in compounds; compare sexfoil , trefoil

2.

a. : one of several small curved indentations that meet and form points or cusps ; specifically : an indentation between cusps in Gothic tracery

b. : one of several arcs that enclose a complex figure

the rim of a tray having eight foils

3. obsolete

a. : a leaf of paper

b. : counterfoil

4.

a. : a paper-thin material : tissue ; especially : very thin metal for such purposes as providing decorative covering or moistureproof lining or wrapping

b. : a thin coat of tin or silver laid on the back of a looking glass to cause reflection

c. or foil paper : metallic paper 3

5.

a. obsolete : the setting of a jewel

b. : a thin piece of metal or other material put under a paste or inferior stone to add color or brilliancy

6. : something that serves by contrast of color or quality to set off another to advantage or sometimes to disadvantage

everything was animated and gay … the men in their black coats were an admirable foil — Victoria Sackville-West

an artist and an intellectual, a foil for her sentimental mother — B.R.Redman

acting as a foil for a stage comedian

IV. transitive verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

1. : to back or cover with foil

2. : to enhance or set off by contrast

V. noun

: hydrofoil

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.