frustration, thwarting, foiling
(noun) an act of hindering someone’s plans or efforts
Source: WordNet® 3.1
FOILing
present participle of FOIL
foiling
present participle of foil
foiling (plural foilings)
The act by which something is foiled; prevention of success.
(hunting) The track of game, such as deer, in the grass.
(architecture) A foil.
Source: Wiktionary
Foil"ing, n. (Arch.)
Definition: A foil. Simmonds.
Foil"ing, n. Etym: [Cf. F. foulées. See 1st Foil.] (Hunting)
Definition: The track of game (as deer) in the grass.
Foil (foil), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Foiled (foild); p. pr. & vb. n. Foiling.] Etym: [F. fouler to tread or trample under one's feet, to press, oppress. See Full, v. t.]
1. To tread under foot; to trample. King Richard . . . caused the ensigns of Leopold to be pulled down and foiled under foot. Knoless. Whom he did all to pieces breake and foyle, In filthy durt, and left so in the loathely soyle. Spenser.
2. To render (an effort or attempt) vain or nugatory; to baffle; to outwit; to balk; to frustrate; to defeat. And by foiled. Dryden. Her long locks that foil the painter's power. Byron.
3. To blunt; to dull; to spoil; as, to foil the scent in chase. Addison.
Foil, v. t. Etym: [See 6th File.]
Definition: To defile; to soil. [Obs.]
Foil, n.
1. Failure of success when on the point of attainment; defeat; frustration; miscarriage. Milton. Nor e'er was fate so near a foil. Dryden.
2. A blunt weapon used in fencing, resembling a smallsword in the main, but usually lighter and having a button at the point. Blunt as the fencer's foils, which hit, but hurt not. Shak. socrates contended with a foil against Demosthenes with a word. Mitford.
3. The track or trail of an animal. To run a foil,to lead astray; to puzzle; -- alluding to the habits of some animals of running back over the same track to mislead their pursuers. Brewer.
Foil, n. Etym: [OE. foil leaf, OF. foil, fuil, fueil, foille, fueille, F. feuille, fr. L. folium, pl. folia; akin to Gr.blade. Cf. Foliage, Folio.]
1. A leaf or very thin sheet of metal; as, brass foil; tin foil; gold foil.
2. (Jewelry)
Definition: A thin leaf of sheet copper silvered and burnished, and afterwards coated with transparent colors mixed with isinglass; -- employed by jewelers to give color or brilliancy to pastes and inferior stones. Ure.
3. Anything that serves by contrast of color or quality to adorn or set off another thing to advantage. As she a black silk cap on him began To set, for foil of his milk- white to serve. Sir P. Sidney. Hector has a foil to set him off. Broome.
4. A thin coat of tin, with quicksilver, laid on the back of a looking-glass, to cause reflection.
5. (Arch.)
Definition: The space between the cusps in Gothic architecture; a rounded or leaflike ornament, in windows, niches, etc. A group of foils is called trefoil, quatrefoil, quinquefoil, etc., according to the number of arcs of which it is composed. Foil stone, an imitation of a jewel or precious stone.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
23 December 2024
(noun) Australian tree having hard white timber and glossy green leaves with white flowers followed by one-seeded glossy blue fruit
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
