Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to foil
Participle: foiled
Gerund: foiling
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | foil |
| you | foil |
| he;she;it | foils |
| we | foil |
| you | foil |
| they | foil |
Perfect
| I | have foiled |
| you | have foiled |
| he;she;it | has foiled |
| we | have foiled |
| you | have foiled |
| they | have foiled |
Past
| I | foiled |
| you | foiled |
| he;she;it | foiled |
| we | foiled |
| you | foiled |
| they | foiled |
Pluperfect
| I | had foiled |
| you | had foiled |
| he;she;it | had foiled |
| we | had foiled |
| you | had foiled |
| they | had foiled |
Future
| I | will foil |
| you | will foil |
| he;she;it | will foil |
| we | will foil |
| you | will foil |
| they | will foil |
Future Perfect
| I | will have foiled |
| you | will have foiled |
| he;she;it | will have foiled |
| we | will have foiled |
| you | will have foiled |
| they | will have foiled |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | foil |
| you | foil |
| he;she;it | foil |
| we | foil |
| you | foil |
| they | foil |
Perfect
| I | have foiled |
| you | have foiled |
| he;she;it | have foiled |
| we | have foiled |
| you | have foiled |
| they | have foiled |
Imperfect
| I | foiled |
| you | foiled |
| he;she;it | foiled |
| we | foiled |
| you | foiled |
| they | foiled |
Pluperfect
| I | had foiled |
| you | had foiled |
| he;she;it | had foiled |
| we | had foiled |
| you | had foiled |
| they | had foiled |
Conditional
Present
| I | would foil |
| you | would foil |
| he;she;it | would foil |
| we | would foil |
| you | would foil |
| they | would foil |
Perfect
| I | would have foiled |
| you | would have foiled |
| he;she;it | would have foiled |
| we | would have foiled |
| you | would have foiled |
| they | would have foiled |
Imperative
| you | foil |
| we | Let's foil |
| you | foil |
Verbs conjugated like 'foil'
abandon,
abduct,
abear,
aberr,
abject,
abord,
abort,
abound,
abraid,
abray,
abrook,
abscind,
abscond,
absist,
absorb,
abstain,
abstract,
accend,
accent,
accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'foil'
boil,
coil,
fail,
foal,
foin,
fool,
foul,
fowl,
moil,
oil,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- to make physically dirty
- assoil, beclart, bedaub, bedirty, bedizen, befile, befoul, begrime, beray, besully, bewray, blacken, blot, blur, contaminate, darken, denigrate, dirty, drag through the mud, dull, foul, gunk, gunk up, inquinate, pollute, sling mud, slotter, slur, smutch, soss, sowl, spot, stain, sullow, taint, tarnish, uggle
- thwart
- parry, defeat, hinder, prevent, frustrate, counterblow
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. c.1300,
foilen "to spoil a trace or scent by running over it," from O.Fr.
fouler "trample," from V.L.
*fullare "to clean cloth" (by treading on it), from L.
fullo "one who cleans cloth, fuller," of unknown origin. Sense of "frustrate the efforts of" first recorded 1664.
2. From Middle English foyle, from Middle French fueille, from Old French fueille (“plant leaf”), from Late Latin folia, the plural of folium, mistaken as a singular feminine.
3. The literary sense is from the practice of backing a gem with metal foil to make it shine more brilliantly.
4. Doublet of folio and folium, distantly also with phyllo and phyllon.
Verbs referencing "foil"
Finnish with old forms
foilata.
Sample Sentences
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They foiled my plans.
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I was foiled by my superior
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And at the field fought before Bebriacum, ere the battailes joyned, tvvo Ægles had a conflict and bickered together in all their fights: and vvhen the one of them was foyled and overcome, a third came at the very inſtant from the ſunne riſing and chaſed the Victreſſe avvay. [1606, Caius [i.e., Gaius] Suetonius Tranquillus, “The Historie of Flavius Vespatianus Augustus”, in Philêmon Holland, transl., The Historie of Twelve Cæsars Emperours of Rome. […], London: […] [Humphrey Lownes and George Snowdon] for Matthew Lownes, →OCLC, section 5, page 243:]
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And by mortal man at length am foil'd. [1697, Virgil, “The Seventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:]
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her long locks that foil the painter's power [1812, Lord Byron, “Canto I”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. A Romaunt, London: […] [F]or John Murray, […]; William Blackwood, Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin; by Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, stanza LV:]
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Perhaps you think you love me now but it is only for an instant, and because you are foiled. [1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 28, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:]
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First, former Toffee Mikel Arteta sent Walcott racing clear but instead of shooting he squared towards Ramsey, who was foiled by Tony Hibbert. [2011 December 10, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 1 - 0 Everton”, in BBC Sport:]
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Many jihadist plots have been foiled and the security apparatus is getting better, overall, at pre-empting those who would do us ill. But, they say, the nature of the threat and the terrorists’ increasing use of low-tech, asymmetrical tactics such as hire vehicles and knives, make it all but impossible to stop every assault. [2017 August 20, “The Observer view on the attacks in Spain”, in The Observer:]
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they foil the scent of one another. [1711 August 10 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “MONDAY, July 31, 1711”, in The Spectator, number (please specify the issue number); republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume (please either specify the issue number or |volume=I to VI), New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:]
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King Richard […] caused the ensigns of Leopold to be pulled down and foiled underfoot. [1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes:]
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Whom he did all to pieces breake and foyle, / In filthy durt, and left so in the loathely soyle. [1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XXXIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:]