foil
verb
[ fɔɪl ]
• prevent (something considered wrong or undesirable) from succeeding.
• "a brave policewoman foiled the armed robbery"
Similar:
thwart,
frustrate,
counter,
oppose,
balk,
disappoint,
impede,
obstruct,
hamper,
hinder,
snooker,
cripple,
scotch,
derail,
smash,
dash,
stop,
check,
block,
prevent,
defeat,
nip in the bud,
mess up,
screw up,
do for,
put paid to,
stymie,
cook someone's goose,
scupper,
nobble,
queer,
put the mockers on,
traverse,
root,
foil
noun
• the track or scent of a hunted animal.
• a setback in an enterprise; a defeat.
Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘trample down’): perhaps from Old French fouler ‘to full cloth, trample’, based on Latin fullo ‘fuller’. Compare with full2.
foil
noun
• metal hammered or rolled into a thin flexible sheet, used chiefly for covering or wrapping food.
• "aluminium foil"
• a person or thing that contrasts with and so emphasizes and enhances the qualities of another.
• "his white cravat was a perfect foil for his bronzed features"
• a leaf-shaped curve formed by the cusping of an arch or circle.
Origin:
Middle English: via Old French from Latin folium ‘leaf’.
foil
noun
• a light, blunt-edged fencing sword with a button on its point.
Origin:
late 16th century: of unknown origin.
foil
noun
• each of the structures fitted to a hydrofoil's hull to lift it clear of the water at speed.
Origin:
abbreviation of hydrofoil.
