Spoils

//spɔɪlz// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    That which is taken from another by violence; especially, the plunder taken from an enemy; pillage, booty. plural, plural-only

    "Gentle gales, / Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense / Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole / Those balmy spoils."

  2. 2
    Waste material left over in the course of excavation, construction, mining, or dredging operations. plural, plural-only

    "dredging spoils"

  3. 3
    Public offices and their benefits regarded as the peculiar property of a successful party or faction, to be bestowed for its own advantage. plural, plural-only

    "To the victor belong the spoils."

Verb
  1. 1
    third-person singular simple present indicative of spoil form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person

    "Milk spoils when left out too long."

Synonyms

All synonyms
blackmailboodlebootygrafthaulloot

Example

More examples

"Polite language, in a sense, spoils a casual atmosphere."

Related phrases

racial spoilsspoils of warspoils systemto the victor go the spoils

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.