FOILING • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Foiling

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/fˈɔɪlɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Foil v. t. (past & past part. foiled; pres. part. foiling)

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."

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."

To blunt; to dull; to spoil; as, to foil the scent in chase.

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

noun

Foiling n. (Arch.) A foil.

Foiling n. (Hunting) The track of game (as deer) in the grass.

See images of 'Foiling'

Etymology of 'Foiling'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Foiling" Quotes from Famous Books

... character stands forth more vividly because of its opposition to the other. Of the two women who are loved by Tito Melema, the one, Tessa, is simple and childish, the other, Romola, complex and intellectual. The most interesting stories present a constant contrast of mutually foiling personalities; and whenever characters of varied views and opposing aims come nobly to the grapple in a struggle that vitally concerns them, the tensity of the situation will be augmented if the difference between the characters is marked. This expedient is therefore ...

— A Manual of the Art of Fiction • Clayton Hamilton

... until they descended the steps that the group had an opportunity for forming itself. Miss Loriner, recognizing the girl's perturbation of mind, took her ahead, thus foiling the intentions of Lady Douglass; they could hear her talking of literature to Clarence Mills in a patronizing way. Gertie's cousin said resolutely, "But George Meredith never wrote a poem with that title. You are thinking of Owen Meredith." Lady Douglass answered, ...

— Love at Paddington • W. Pett Ridge

... receded down the river bank. "Take that—and that—and that," I heard him shout, with a rat-tat-too of sharp thuds from the staff accompanying each word. Then I knew the quarrel on the beach was at its height; and Louis Laplante was still foiling the Sioux's approach to Miriam's wigwam ...

— Lords of the North • A. C. Laut

... gentle taps, in particular, were a little humiliating. But with his late opponent all had been serious. It had been a real test, and he had come through it very fairly. On the whole, he had taken more than he had given—his eye would look curious tomorrow—but already he had thought out a way of foiling the burly youth's rushes. Next time he would really show ...

— The White Feather • P. G. Wodehouse

... He moves across the stage with a majesty sometimes bordering on what Iago calls bombast circumstance; drums and trumpets herald his every entrance; now pacing the shady gardens of the Bosphorus, now foiling, "in his grand quiet way," the Czar's ferocious Christianity, or torturing his baffled ambassador by scornful concession of the points which he formally demanded but did not really want; or crushing with "thin, tight, ...

— Biographical Study of A. W. Kinglake • Rev. W. Tuckwell