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SPOILING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of spoiling something by causing damage to it
Example:
her spoiling my dress was deliberate
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("spoiling" is a kind of...):
injury (an act that causes someone or something to receive physical damage)
Derivation:
spoil (make a mess of, destroy or ruin)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The process of becoming spoiled
Synonyms:
spoilage; spoiling
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Hypernyms ("spoiling" is a kind of...):
decay (the process of gradually becoming inferior)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spoiling"):
mildew; mold; mould (the process of becoming mildewed)
souring (the process of becoming sour)
Derivation:
spoil (become unfit for consumption or use)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb spoil
Context examples:
Should any little accidental disappointment of the appetite occur, such as the spoiling of a meal, the under or the over dressing of a dish, the incident ought not to be neutralised by replacing with something more delicate the comfort lost, thus pampering the body and obviating the aim of this institution; it ought to be improved to the spiritual edification of the pupils, by encouraging them to evince fortitude under temporary privation.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
As the height of luxury, Meg put out some of her sewing, and then found time hang so heavily, that she fell to snipping and spoiling her clothes in her attempts to furbish them up a la Moffat.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
