foil
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fɔɪl/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔɪl
Etymology 1
From Middle English foyle, from Middle French fueille, from Old French fueille (“plant leaf”), from Late Latin folia, the plural of folium, mistaken as a singular feminine. Doublet of folio and folium, distantly also with phyllo and phyllon.
Noun
foil (countable and uncountable, plural foils)
- A very thin sheet of metal.
- (uncountable) Thin aluminium/aluminum (or, formerly, tin) used for wrapping food.
- wrap the sandwich up in foil
- A thin layer of metal put between a jewel and its setting to make it seem more brilliant.
- (authorship, figuratively) In literature, theatre/theater, etc., a character who helps emphasize the traits of the main character and who usually acts as an opponent or antagonist, but can also serve as the sidekick of the protagonist.
- 2022 December 20, Leigh Monson, “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish review: Antonio Banderas leads the best film yet in the Shrek franchise”, in AV Club:
- As Puss comes to realize his legendary status is not a substitute for interpersonal connection, his interactions with Kitty and the therapy dog start to take on a surprising amount of weight, while Goldilocks serves as a well-realized foil who has more in common with Puss that is at first apparent.
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- (figuratively) Anything that acts by contrast to emphasise the characteristics of something.
- a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the page number)”, in Fulke Greville, Matthew Gwinne, and John Florio, editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, OCLC 801077108; republished in Albert Feuillerat, editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia (Cambridge English Classics: The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; I), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1912, OCLC 318419127:
- As she a black silk cap on him begun / To set, for foil of his milk-white to serve.
- 1725-1726, William Broome, The Odyssey
- Hector has also a foil to set regard
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- (fencing) A very thin sword with a blunted (or foiled) tip
- 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene ii]:
- Blunt as the fencer's foils, which hit, but hurt not.
- 1784-1810, William Mitford, History of Greece
- Socrates contended with a foil against Demosthenes with a sword.
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- A thin, transparent plastic material on which marks are made and projected for the purposes of presentation. See transparency.
- (heraldry) A stylized flower or leaf.
- (hydrodynamics, nautical) Clipping of hydrofoil.
- (aerodynamics, aviation) Clipping of aerofoil/airfoil.
Synonyms
- (thin aluminium/aluminum): aluminium foil, silver foil, silver paper, tin foil
Derived terms
- aluminum foil
- cinquefoil
- counterfoil
- foil stone
- quatrefoil
- sexfoil
- tin foil
- trefoil
Translations
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Verb
foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)
- (transitive) To cover or wrap with foil.
- (nautical) Clipping of hydrofoil.
Etymology 2
From Middle English foilen (“spoil a scent trail by crossing it”), from Old French fouler (“tread on, trample”), ultimately from Latin fullō (“I trample, I full”).
Verb
foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)
- To prevent (something) from being accomplished.
- They foiled my plans.
- To prevent (someone) from accomplishing something.
- I was foiled by my superior
- 1606, C[aius, i.e., Gaius] Suetonius Tranquillus, “The Historie of Flavius Vespatianus Augustus”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of Twelve Cæsars Emperours of Rome. […], London: […] [Humphrey Lownes and George Snowdon] for Matthew Lownes, OCLC 1029684289, section 5, page 243:
- And at the field fought before Bebriacum, ere the battailes joyned, tvvo Ægles had a conflict and bickered together in all their fights: and vvhen the one of them was foyled and overcome, a third came at the very inſtant from the ſunne riſing and chaſed the Victreſſe avvay.
- 1697, Virgil, “The Seventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432:
- And by mortal man at length am foil'd.
- 1812, Lord Byron, “Canto I”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. A Romaunt, London: Printed for John Murray, […]; William Blackwood, Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin; by Thomas Davison, […], OCLC 22697011, stanza LV:
- her long locks that foil the painter's power
- 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 28, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, OCLC 2057953:
- Perhaps you think you love me now but it is only for an instant, and because you are foiled.
- 2011 December 10, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 1 - 0 Everton”, in BBC Sport:
- First, former Toffee Mikel Arteta sent Walcott racing clear but instead of shooting he squared towards Ramsey, who was foiled by Tony Hibbert.
- 2017 August 20, “The Observer view on the attacks in Spain”, in The Observer:
- Many jihadist plots have been foiled and the security apparatus is getting better, overall, at pre-empting those who would do us ill. But, they say, the nature of the threat and the terrorists’ increasing use of low-tech, asymmetrical tactics such as hire vehicles and knives, make it all but impossible to stop every assault.
- To blunt; to dull; to spoil.
- 1711 August 11 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “TUESDAY, July 31, 1711”, in The Spectator, number (please specify the issue number); republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume (please either specify the issue number or |volume=I to VI), New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, OCLC 191120697:
- they foil the scent of one another.
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- (obsolete) To tread underfoot; to trample.
- 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes
- King Richard […] caused the ensigns of Leopold to be pulled down and foiled underfoot.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XXXIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938:
- Whom he did all to pieces breake and foyle, / In filthy durt, and left so in the loathely soyle.
- 1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes
Synonyms
- (prevent from being accomplished): put the kibosh on, scupper, thwart
Translations
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Noun
foil (plural foils)
- Failure when on the point of attainment; defeat; frustration; miscarriage.
- 1671, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398:
- Fame is no plant that grows on mortal foil
- 1685, John Dryden, Threnodia Augustalis
- Nor e'er was fate so near a foil.
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- One of the incorrect answers presented in a multiple-choice test.
Etymology 3
From French foulis.
Noun
foil (plural foils)
- (hunting) The track of an animal.
- 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter IV, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], OCLC 928184292, book VII:
- […] but after giving her a dodge, here's another b— follows me upon the foil.
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Synonyms
- (track of an animal): spoor
Translations
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Etymology 4
From mnemonic acronym FOIL (“First Outside Inside Last”).
Verb
foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)
- (mathematics) To expand a product of two or more algebraic expressions, typically binomials.
Translations
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Etymology 5
See file.
Verb
foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)
- (obsolete) To defile; to soil.
Anagrams
- Filo, LIFO, filo, lo-fi, lofi
Old French
Alternative forms
- feul
- foel
- fol
- fueill
- fuel
- fuil
Etymology
From Latin folium. Compare fueille, from the plural of folium, folia.
Noun
foil m (oblique plural fouz or foilz, nominative singular fouz or foilz, nominative plural foil)
- leaf (green appendage of a plant which photosynthesizes)