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Foil   /fɔɪl/   Listen
noun
Foil  n.  
1.
Failure of success when on the point of attainment; defeat; frustration; miscarriage. " Nor e'er was fate so near a foil."
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." " Isocrates contended with a foil against Demosthenes with a word."
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.


Foil  n.  
1.
A leaf or very thin sheet of metal; as, brass foil; tin foil; gold foil.
2.
(Jewelry) 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.
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." "Hector has a foil to set him off."
4.
A thin coat of tin, with quicksilver, laid on the back of a looking-glass, to cause reflection.
5.
(Arch.) 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.


verb
Foil  v. t.  (past & past part. foiled; pres. part. foiling)  
1.
To tread under foot; to trample. " King Richard... caused the ensigns of Leopold to be pulled down and foiled under foot." " Whom he did all to pieces breake and foyle, In filthy durt, and left so in the loathely soyle."
2.
To render (an effort or attempt) vain or nugatory; to baffle; to outwit; to balk; to frustrate; to defeat. "Her long locks that foil the painter's power."
3.
To blunt; to dull; to spoil; as, to foil the scent in chase.


Foil  v. t.  To defile; to soil. (Obs.)





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Foil" Quotes from Famous Books



... graceful little copy of verse addressed to Euthalia, in which we may note, by the way, that the fair Rosalinda's charms are ungallantly made use of as a foil to Euthalia's dazzling perfections. As Fielding found these verses not unworthy of a page in his later Miscellanies they ...
— Henry Fielding: A Memoir • G. M. Godden
... by putting on as bold a front, and making as great and startling display, as possible. But as fragrant, modest flowers usually bloom in the garden with gaudy, scentless ones, so those inclined to be bizarre made an excellent foil for the refined and elegant, and thus had their uses. There is little in the world that is not of value, looking at it from ...
— What Can She Do? • Edward Payson Roe
... malua ula. The malua-ula was a variety of tapa that was stained with hili kukui (the root-bark of the kukui tree). The ripe kukui nut was chewed into a paste and mingled with this stain. Mama ula refers to this chewing. The malua ula is mentioned as a foil to the pa-u, being a ...
— Unwritten Literature of Hawaii - The Sacred Songs of the Hula • Nathaniel Bright Emerson
... brass locks that were screwed onto the inside of the door, with a brass covering for the bolt at the side—not morticed as is now usual. Mrs. Dale locked her son in after he retired to bed. Harry noticed the circumstance and smiled to think how easily he could foil her but as he had promised the doctor to make no attempt on his mother that night, he went to bed and slept soundly. Next day he provided himself with a turn-screw and a small phial of sweet oil. When mamma was busy at cards, he slipped upstairs and easily unscrewed ...
— The Romance of Lust - A classic Victorian erotic novel • Anonymous
... simple garment of thin, shimmering stuff, diaphanous as finest silk. It was black, caught at one shoulder with a flashing green stone. The other shoulder was bared, and the black garment was a perfect foil for the whiteness of her perfect skin, her amazing blue eyes, and the ...
— Priestess of the Flame • Sewell Peaslee Wright


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