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SPOILED
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(of foodstuffs) not in an edible or usable condition
Example:
a refrigerator full of spoilt food
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
stale (lacking freshness, palatability, or showing deterioration from age)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Having the character or disposition harmed by pampering or oversolicitous attention
Example:
a spoiled child
Synonyms:
spoiled; spoilt
Classified under:
Similar:
ill-natured (having an irritable and unpleasant disposition)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Past simple / past participle of the verb spoil
Context examples:
I found that the berries were spoiled by this operation, and the nuts and roots much improved.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
I assure you he is very detestable; the Admiral's lessons have quite spoiled him.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Dick's crossed his luck and spoiled his Bible, and that's about all.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
The beetles, which are known to infest all kinds of seeds and beans, spoiled most of the seeds left exposed on the forest floor.
(Thai Elephants Help Spread Jungle Fruit's Seeds, Sadie Witkowski/VOA)
Moreover, she was rather what might be called wayward—I'll go so far as to say what I should call wayward myself, said Mr. Omer; —didn't know her own mind quite—a little spoiled—and couldn't, at first, exactly bind herself down.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Then they hugged and kissed their dear little son, and gave him plenty to eat and drink, for he was very hungry; and then they fetched new clothes for him, for his old ones had been quite spoiled on his journey.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Mrs Smith's enjoyments were not spoiled by this improvement of income, with some improvement of health, and the acquisition of such friends to be often with, for her cheerfulness and mental alacrity did not fail her; and while these prime supplies of good remained, she might have bid defiance even to greater accessions of worldly prosperity.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Researchers from the University of Granada, together with scientists from the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC), have identified the area of the brain that is directly involved in our aversion to toxic, spoiled or poisonous foods.
(Researchers identify area of the amygdala involved in taste aversion, University of Granada)
That's a foolish wish, unless you have spoiled your life.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
I have still the advantage of you by sixteen years' experience, and by not being a pretty young woman and a spoiled child.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
