Coffee has initially been a food â chewed, not sipped. Early African tribes consume coffee by grinding the berries together, adding some animal fat, and rolling the treats into tiny edible energy balls.
blighted, spoilt
(adjective) affected by blight; anything that mars or prevents growth or prosperity; âa blighted roseâ; âblighted urban districtsâ
bad, spoiled, spoilt
(adjective) (of foodstuffs) not in an edible or usable condition; âbad meatâ; âa refrigerator full of spoilt foodâ
spoiled, spoilt
(adjective) having the character or disposition harmed by pampering or oversolicitous attention; âa spoiled childâ
corrupt, spoil
(verb) alter from the original
spoil, go bad
(verb) become unfit for consumption or use; âthe meat must be eaten before it spoilsâ
mar, impair, spoil, deflower, vitiate
(verb) make imperfect; ânothing marred her beautyâ
rape, spoil, despoil, violate, plunder
(verb) destroy and strip of its possession; âThe soldiers raped the beautiful countryâ
itch, spoil
(verb) have a strong desire or urge to do something; âShe is itching to start the projectâ; âHe is spoiling for a fightâ
botch, bodge, bumble, fumble, botch up, muff, blow, flub, screw up, ball up, spoil, muck up, bungle, fluff, bollix, bollix up, bollocks, bollocks up, bobble, mishandle, louse up, foul up, mess up, fuck up
(verb) make a mess of, destroy or ruin; âI botched the dinner and we had to eat outâ; âthe pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movementâ
thwart, queer, spoil, scotch, foil, cross, frustrate, baffle, bilk
(verb) hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of; âWhat ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruthâs amazing September surgeâ; âfoil your opponentâ
pamper, featherbed, cosset, cocker, baby, coddle, mollycoddle, spoil, indulge
(verb) treat with excessive indulgence; âgrandparents often pamper the childrenâ; âLetâs not mollycoddle our students!â
Source: WordNet® 3.1
spoilt (comparative more spoilt, superlative most spoilt) (UK spelling)
(UK) Having lost its original value
Of food, that has deteriorated to the point of no longer being usable or edible.
(of a person, usually a child) Having a selfish or greedy character, especially due to pampering
• Much less common than spoiled in US.
• About as common as "spoiled" in UK.
• (food): eatable, edible, fresh, good, unspoilt
• (person): unspoilt
spoilt
simple past tense and past participle of spoil
• pilots, pistol, postil, potlis, sploit
Source: Wiktionary
Spoil (, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spoiled or Spoilt; p. pr. & vb. n. Spoiling.] Etym: [F. spolier, OF. espoilelier, fr. L. spoliare, fr. spolium spoil. Cf. Despoil, Spoliation.]
1. To plunder; to strip by violence; to pillage; to rob; -- with of before the name of the thing taken; as, to spoil one of his goods or possession. "Ye shall spoil the Egyptians." Ex. iii. 22. My sons their old, unhappy sire despise, Spoiled of his kingdom, and deprived of eues. Pope.
2. To seize by violence;; to take by force; to plunder. No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man. Mark iii. 27.
3. To cause to decay and perish; to corrput; to vitiate; to mar. Spiritual pride spils many graces. Jer. Taylor.
4. To render useless by injury; to injure fatally; to ruin; to destroy; as, to spoil paper; to have the crops spoiled by insects; to spoil the eyes by reading.
Spoil, v. i.
1. To practice plunder or robbery. Outlaws, which, lurking in woods, used to break forth to rob and spoil. Spenser.
2. To lose the valuable qualities; to be corrupted; to decay; as, fruit will soon spoil in warm weather.
Spoil, n. Etym: [Cf. OF. espoille, L. spolium.]
1. That which is taken from another by violence; especially, the plunder taken from an enemy; pillage; booty. Gentle gales, Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole Those balmy spoils. Milton.
2. Public offices and their emoluments regarded as the peculiar property of a successful party or faction, to be bestowed for its own advantage; -- commonly in the plural; as to the victor belong the spoils. From a principle of gratitude I adhered to the coalition; my vote was counted in the day of battle, but I was overlooked in the division of the spoil. Gibbon.
3. That which is gained by strength or effort. each science and each art his spoil. Bentley.
4. The act or practice of plundering; robbery; aste. The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treason, stratagems, and spoil. Shak.
5. Corruption; cause of corruption. [Archaic] Villainous company hath been the spoil of me. Shak.
6. The slough, or cast skin, of a serpent or other animal. [Obs.] Bacon. Spoil bank, a bank formed by the earth taken from an excavation, as of a canal.
– The spoils system, the theory or practice of regarding public and their emoluments as so much plunder to be distributed among their active partisans by those who are chosen to responsible offices of administration.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
22 February 2025
(noun) the use of closed-class words instead of inflections: e.g., âthe father of the brideâ instead of âthe brideâs fatherâ
Coffee has initially been a food â chewed, not sipped. Early African tribes consume coffee by grinding the berries together, adding some animal fat, and rolling the treats into tiny edible energy balls.