spoil
verbVerb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they spoil | |
| he / she / it spoils | |
| past simple spoiled | |
| past participle spoiled | |
| (British English also) past simple spoilt | |
| (British English also) past participle spoilt | |
| -ing form spoiling |
- [transitive] spoil something
to change something good into something bad, unpleasant, etc. 破坏；搞坏；糟蹋；毁掉 Our camping trip was spoilt by bad weather. 天气不好，破坏了我们的露营旅行。 Don't let him spoil your evening. 别让他搞得你一晚上不开心。 The tall buildings have spoiled the view. 那些高楼大厦破坏了这一带的景致。 Don't eat too many nuts—you'll spoil your appetite (= will no longer be hungry at the proper time to eat). 别吃太多坚果，会影响你的食欲。 I won’t tell you what happens in the last chapter—I don’t want to spoil it for you. 我不会告诉你最后一章发生了什么－我不想破坏你的兴致。
Extra ExamplesDon't let the bad weather spoil your trip. 不要让坏天气毁了你的旅行。 Her selfish behaviour completely spoiled the evening. 这个晚上完全因她自私自利的行为而变得兴味索然。 I don't want to spoil things for everyone else. 我不想毁了所有其他人的兴致。 It would be a pity to spoil the surprise. 如果破坏了这一惊喜，会很遗憾的。 Now, don't be hard on the children and spoil their fun! 现在，不要对孩子太苛刻，破坏他们的乐趣！ The bad weather really spoilt things for us. 恶劣的天气真的毁了我们的生活。 Why did they have to act so aggressively and spoil everything? 为什么他们要如此咄咄逼人，破坏一切？ I don't want to spoil your fun, but it's nearly time to go home. 我不想扫你的兴，但是该回家了。 The new buildings have completely spoiled the view. 新建筑完全破坏了景色。 The performance was spoilt by the constant noise from the audience. 观众不断的吵闹声破坏了演出。 Why do you always have to spoil everything? 为什么每样东西都要毁在你手里？
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- completely
- quite
- rather
- …
- hate to
- not be going to
- not want to
- …
- [transitive] spoil somebody
to give a child everything that they ask for and not enough discipline in a way that has a bad effect on their character and behaviour 溺爱；娇惯；宠坏 Extra ExamplesHe spoils the children with expensive toys. 他用昂贵的玩具宠坏了孩子们。 Those children are thoroughly spoiled! 那些孩子给彻底惯坏了！
Oxford Collocations Dictionarypreposition- with
- be completely spoiled
- be thoroughly spoiled
- be utterly spoiled
- …
- [transitive] spoil somebody/yourself
to make somebody/yourself happy by doing something special 善待；格外关照 - [intransitive]
(of food 食物 to become bad so that it can no longer be eaten 变坏；变质；腐败 - [transitive] spoil something
to mark a ballot paper in a way that is not correct so the vote does not count, especially as a form of protest 破坏： 以不正确的方式在选票上标记，以致于投票不算，特别是作为一种抗议形式The group called on its supporters to spoil their ballot papers. 该团体号召其支持者破坏他们的选票。
Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘to plunder’): shortening of Old French espoille (noun), espoillier (verb), from Latin spoliare, from spolium ‘plunder, skin stripped from an animal’, or a shortening of despoil.
Idioms
be spoiling for a fight
to want to fight with somebody very much 按捺不住想打架
spoil the ship for a ha’p’orth/ha’pennyworth of tar
- (saying)
to cause something good to fail because you did not spend a small but necessary amount of money or time on a small but essential part of it 因小失大
too many cooks spoil the broth
- (saying)
if too many people are involved in doing something, it will not be done well 厨师多了烧坏汤；人多手杂反坏事；人多添乱