/ spaɪt; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
[ U ] a feeling of wanting to hurt or upset sb
SYN malice :
I'm sure he only said it out of spite .
•
IDIOMS
- in spite of sth
- in spite of yourself
■ verb
[ vn ] (only used in the infinitive with to ) to deliberately annoy or upset sb :
They're playing the music so loud just to spite us.
•
IDIOMS
see nose noun
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English : shortening of Old French despit contempt, despiter show contempt for.