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Spoil   /spɔɪl/   Listen
Spoil

verb
(past & past part. spoilt or spoiled; pres. part. spoiling)
1.
Make a mess of, destroy or ruin.  Synonyms: ball up, blow, bobble, bodge, bollix, bollix up, bollocks, bollocks up, botch, botch up, bumble, bungle, flub, fluff, foul up, fuck up, fumble, louse up, mess up, mishandle, muck up, muff, screw up.  "The pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement"
2.
Become unfit for consumption or use.  Synonym: go bad.
3.
Alter from the original.  Synonym: corrupt.
4.
Treat with excessive indulgence.  Synonyms: baby, cocker, coddle, cosset, featherbed, indulge, mollycoddle, pamper.  "Let's not mollycoddle our students!"
5.
Hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of.  Synonyms: baffle, bilk, cross, foil, frustrate, queer, scotch, thwart.  "Foil your opponent"
6.
Have a strong desire or urge to do something.  Synonym: itch.  "He is spoiling for a fight"
7.
Destroy and strip of its possession.  Synonyms: despoil, plunder, rape, violate.
8.
Make imperfect.  Synonyms: deflower, impair, mar, vitiate.



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"Spoil" Quotes from Famous Books



... she breathed, contentedly, but suddenly roused herself. "Here I'm keeping you, and that dinner'll spoil! Wash your hands and come down quick! Bonnie will ...
— The Witness • Grace Livingston Hill Lutz

... and some forty slaves, armed with pistols, blunderbusses, and guns of French and Yankee build. Our visitors wore the official berretta, European shirts, that contrasted with coral necklaces and rings of zinc, brass, and copper, and handsome waistcoats, fronted by the well-tanned spoil of some "bush" animal, generally a wild cat, hanging like a Scotch sporran—this is and has long been the distinctive sign of a "gentleman." According to John Barbot (Supplement, Churchill, v. ...
— Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 2 • Richard F. Burton

... laughter that answered this proposal threatened to bring some of the teachers and so spoil the fun altogether. Finally, however, Amelia Boggs got the crowd into line, and the parade marched out of Room Seven ...
— Nan Sherwood at Rose Ranch • Annie Roe Carr

... thee." Then answered Medb: "As well-off was I before I ever saw thee." "It was a wealth, forsooth, we never heard nor knew of," Ailill said; "but a woman's wealth was all thou hadst, and foes from lands next thine were used to carry off the spoil and booty that they took from thee." "Not so was I," quoth Medb; "the High King of Erin himself was my sire, Eocho Fedlech ('the Enduring') son of Finn, by name, who was son of Findoman, son of Finden, son of Findguin, son of Rogen Ruad ('the Red'), son of Rigen, son of Blathacht, ...
— The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Tain Bo Cualnge • Unknown

... agreed. "The four vessels are well filled with rich spoil that the scoundrels had gathered, and I doubt not the one you captured is equally rich. Still, had they been ten times as valuable, the booty would be dearly ...
— A Knight of the White Cross • G.A. Henty

... this rebel city, Loves foemen brisk and game, Tho', just to please the angels, He may send down his flame. God loves the golden leopard Tho' he may spoil her lair. God smites, yet loves the lion. ...
— General William Booth enters into Heaven and other Poems • Vachel Lindsay

... equivalent to the force of so much fuel; and that it is mere insane waste to dig for coal for our force, while the vital force is unused, and not only unused, but in being so, corrupting and polluting itself. We waste our coal, and spoil our humanity at one and the same instant. Therefore, wherever there is an idle arm, always save coal with it, and the stores of England will last all the longer. And precisely the same argument answers ...
— The Queen of the Air • John Ruskin

... family 'At's nut been named i' t'list, Reight weel desarves a share o' t'spoil, But, thenk ye, ...
— Revised Edition of Poems • William Wright

... of the smokeless powders made of a low grade gun-cotton were found to deteriorate and spoil, experiments were made with gun-cotton of the highest degree of nitration, both alone and in combination with nitro-glycerine. These experiments were first conducted in England by private parties and by the British government, when it was found that ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 821, Sep. 26, 1891 • Various

... general thing the Sauviats ate herrings, dried peas, cheese, hard eggs in salad, vegetables seasoned in the cheapest manner. Never did they lay in provisions, except perhaps a bunch of garlic or onions, which could not spoil and cost but little. The small amount of wood they burned in winter they bought of itinerant sellers day by day. By seven in winter, by nine in summer, the household was in bed, and the shop was closed and guarded by a huge dog, which got its living from the kitchens in the neighborhood. ...
— The Village Rector • Honore de Balzac

... Thither Colin followed him and told him all the story of the whale. The captain, who was an old friend of Colin's father when they both lived in a lumbering town in northern Michigan, was greatly taken aback when he found how dangerous the boat-trip had been, but he did not want to spoil the boy's ...
— The Boy With the U. S. Fisheries • Francis Rolt-Wheeler

... upon the hapless pacificos that the horrors of war chiefly descended. They were ruined, but that was the least. Their property, the honor of their women, and their lives were held to be the legitimate spoil of any Spanish soldier, and the tacit legalization of loot, rapine, and murder was taken full advantage of. More inhuman even than the regular soldiery were the guerrillas, licensed free companions, who roamed the island ever in search of spoil. ...
— The Naval History of the United States - Volume 2 (of 2) • Willis J. Abbot

... plunder," said Borodaty, hetman of the Oumansky kuren, leaving his men and going to the place where the nobleman killed by Kukubenko lay. "I have killed seven nobles with my own hand, but such spoil I never beheld on any one." Prompted by greed, Borodaty bent down to strip off the rich armour, and had already secured the Turkish knife set with precious stones, and taken from the foe's belt a purse of ducats, and from his breast a silver case containing a maiden's ...
— Taras Bulba and Other Tales • Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

... Christianity that lets beer barrels alone may reckon upon having publicans for its adherents. Of course a Christianity that blesses flags and sings Te Deums over victories will get its share of the spoil. Why should the world hate, or persecute, or do anything but despise a Christianity like that, any more than a man need to care for a tame tiger that has had its claws pared? If the world can put a hook in the nostrils of leviathan, and make him play with its maidens, it will substitute ...
— Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI • Alexander Maclaren

... he got his shot gun that required four dishpans full of powder and a keg of spikes to load each barrel. With this gun he could shoot geese so high in the air they would spoil before ...
— The Marvelous Exploits of Paul Bunyan • W.B. Laughead

... exposed surface. This may be done several hours after the pictures have been removed from the camera. Care should be taken that the back of the picture does not become wetted, as this is apt to produce a stain which may spoil the printing of ...
— Notes and Queries, Number 216, December 17, 1853 • Various

... underground, threatening to turn them into stone should they appear in the daytime. And this is why the trolls spend all their time in the hidden parts of the earth, digging for gold and silver and precious stones, and hiding their spoil away in secret holes and corners. Sometimes they blow their tiny fires and set to work to make all kinds of wonderful things from this buried treasure; and that is what they are doing when, if one listens very hard on the mountains and hills of the Northland, a ...
— Told by the Northmen: - Stories from the Eddas and Sagas • E. M. [Ethel Mary] Wilmot-Buxton

... serious family difficulties, culminating in a domestic broil of unusual violence. The intellectual aim of the piece is to show the extraordinary loquacity of a Danish Prince. The moral inculcated by it is, "Spare the rod and spoil the child." It is replete with quotations from the best authors, and contains many passages of marked ability. Its literary merit is unquestionable, though it lacks the vivacity of BOUCICAULT, and possesses no situation of such intense interest as the ...
— Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 2, April 9, 1870 • Various

... canning fruit in syrup is based on the improvement in flavor and texture which sugar gives to fruit. Sugar is not necessary for its preservation. Success depends upon thorough sterilization—that is, killing the organisms which cause food to spoil, and then sealing perfectly to prevent their entrance. Fruit may be canned in water, in fruit juice ...
— The New Dr. Price Cookbook • Anonymous

... worst of it. There were a number of hangers-on and outsiders about the Commons, who, without being proctors themselves, dabbled in common-form business, and got it done by real proctors, who lent their names in consideration of a share in the spoil;—and there were a good many of these too. As our house now wanted business on any terms, we joined this noble band; and threw out lures to the hangers-on and outsiders, to bring their business to us. Marriage ...
— David Copperfield • Charles Dickens

... who resides in the country of Alchesisin, and they do not believe the doctrine of Mahomet. Among this people there are four colleges of Jews, who go forth to war with the inhabitants, invading the neighbouring countries, and drive away great spoil; for they are not under the dominion of the king of Persia. The Jews in this country are disciples of the wise men, and obey the head of the captivity of Babylon. In five days journey you reach Omaria, where are 25,000 Israelites, and here begin the synagogues ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 1 • Robert Kerr

... have put on old clothes which will not spoil, and have stepped into the iron basket (see Fig. 46) called by the miners a cage, and are being let down the shaft to the gallery where the miners are at work. Most of them will probably be in the gallery b, ...
— The Fairy-Land of Science • Arabella B. Buckley

... the daughter of Nisus. I surrender to you my country and my father's house. I ask no reward but yourself; for love of you I have done it. See here the purple lock! With this I give you my father and his kingdom." She held out her hand with the fatal spoil. Minos shrunk back and refused to touch it. "The gods destroy thee, infamous woman," he exclaimed; "disgrace of our time! May neither earth nor sea yield thee a resting place! Surely, my Crete, where Jove himself was cradled, shall not ...
— TITLE • AUTHOR

... affectional rather than intellectual or spiritual, they have to grope their way towards each other. It follows, therefore, that experiments have to be made on BOTH sides. Sitters and young mediums often spoil the seances by over-anxiety. There would not be half so much heard of 'evil spirits' (so-called) if more regard were paid to the necessity of maintaining a calm, patient, and serene frame of mind. Some people become excited as soon as phenomena ...
— Genuine Mediumship or The Invisible Powers • Bhakta Vishita

... other accepted that calmly. "All right. That need not necessarily spoil our plans. You have nothing to return to on Nahuatl—unless you liked the Starfall." His voice was icy with contempt. "To play our roles will be for your advantage, too." He paused, his gaze centering on Rynch with the intensity ...
— Star Hunter • Andre Alice Norton

... (her companion) was fully able to take care of himself. "Besides," said the Editor, aggrievedly, "you fellows only think of YOURSELVES, and you don't understand the first principles of journalism. Do you suppose I'm going to do anything to spoil a half-column of leaded brevier copy—from an eye-witness, too? No; it's a square enough fight as it stands. We must look out for the woman, and not let Tournelli get an unfair drop on Hays. That is, if the ...
— Colonel Starbottle's Client and Other Stories • Bret Harte

... bought the support of the Archbishop of Mayence, Erasmus's friend, by promising him half the spoil which was gathered in his province. The agent was the Dominican monk Tetzel, whose name has acquired a forlorn notoriety ...
— Short Studies on Great Subjects • James Anthony Froude

... they were half-way across the Atlantic, and he made a bet with himself that nature would do the rest. And now here came the staggering suspicion that Scoville's hasty departure was the result of a pre-arranged plan between him and Maud, and that, after all, the silly girl might spoil everything by marrying the confounded rascal before he could do anything ...
— The Prince of Graustark • George Barr McCutcheon

... nephew and confidential secretary of the Chancellor of the same name; and that one Caumartin, another French adventurer, who taught fencing at St. Petersburg, should act the part of Prince de M——-, an aide-de-camp of the Emperor; and that all three together should strip Duroc, and share the spoil. At the appointed hour Bonaparte's agent arrived, and was completely the dupe of these adventurers, who plundered him of twelve hundred thousand livres. Though not many days passed before he discovered the imposition, prudence prevented him from denouncing the ...
— Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud, Complete - Being Secret Letters from a Gentleman at Paris to a Nobleman in London • Lewis Goldsmith

... opined Sir Lucius O'Trigger, "is a very pretty quarrel as it stands; we should only spoil it ...
— How To Write Special Feature Articles • Willard Grosvenor Bleyer

... hold of the Padre alone I'll ask him about it; but he really does spoil these boys till I don't know which tyrannizes over him most—the two cats or the ...
— Soap-Bubble Stories - For Children • Fanny Barry

... at all. Forgive me. But thus it stands. Since you did not guess, through pardonable ignorance of a certain fact, then, for the pleasure of absolute proof, I withhold my discovery a little longer. There is drama here, but we must be skilled dramatists and not spoil our climax, or anticipate it. To-morrow it shall be—perhaps even to-night. You are not going to be kept long in suspense. Nor will I go alone and disobey Scotland Yard. Your aged pet—this spaniel dog—shall join me. Good Prince and I will retire early and, if you so desire it, we ...
— The Grey Room • Eden Phillpotts

... had liked to play in the snow as well as any of them when he was a boy, and he wished that he had not been obliged to ring the school bell and spoil their ...
— Dew Drops, Vol. 37, No. 8, February 22, 1914 • Various

... the wind" of noisy magpies, or other birds that might spoil sport by alarming the game, was not less desirable than to be on the "lee-side" of the game itself, that the hunter's presence might not be betrayed by the scent. "In the wind of," thus signifies not to windward of, but to leeward of — that is, in the wind that comes from the object ...
— The Canterbury Tales and Other Poems • Geoffrey Chaucer

... been away from the sound of groaning thousands. Not since he had assumed his disguise to Laodice in the wilderness had he been close to the immemorial repose of nature. All his primitive manhood rushed back to him, now infuriated with a fear that his love was the spoil of another. ...
— The City of Delight - A Love Drama of the Siege and Fall of Jerusalem • Elizabeth Miller

... you advised owners of horses and hounds to put their horses or their hounds into stays, and lace them up tight, in order to increase their beauty, you would receive, I doubt not, a very courteous, but certainly a very decided, refusal to do that which would spoil not merely the animals themselves, but the whole stud or the whole kennel for years to come. And if you advised an orator to put himself into tight stays, he, no doubt, again would give a courteous answer; but he would ...
— Sanitary and Social Lectures and Essays • Charles Kingsley

... the time forgotten; and when about midnight Black Thompson and Davies said 'Good-night' to him at his cottage door, calling him a brave fellow, and giving him a fine young leveret, with the promise that he should have his share of whatever money they received for their spoil, he entered his dark home, where every one was slumbering peacefully, and, without a thought of sorrow or repentance, was ...
— Fern's Hollow • Hesba Stretton

... climb the trees and eat the bark right there, but Paddy the Beaver cannot climb, and if he would just eat the bark that he can reach from the ground, it would take such a lot of trees to keep him filled up that he would soon spoil the Green Forest. You know, when the bark is taken off a tree all the way around, the tree dies. That is because all the things that a tree draws out of the ground to make it grow and keep it alive are carried up from the roots in the sap, and the sap cannot go ...
— The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver • Thornton W. Burgess

... one, a Jew, and I have seen thee give him certain things. Nay, methinketh even now thou hast somewhat with thee and art seeking him, so thou mayst sell it to him. But thou knowest not, O my son, that the good of the Muslims, believers in the unity of God the Most High, is lawful spoil in the eyes of Jews; nay, they still cheat the Muslims and especially this accursed one with whom thou dealest and into whose hands thou hast fallen. Wherefore, O my son, an thou have with thee aught thou wouldst sell, show it to ...
— Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp • John Payne

... Otterburn, and the English Chevy Chase are versions, from opposite sides, of one event—a skirmish fought in the autumn of 1388 on Rede Water, between a band of Scots, under James, Earl of Douglas, returning home laden with spoil, and a body of English, led by Hotspur, the son of the Earl of Northumberland, in which Douglas was slain and young Harry Percy taken prisoner. It were as hard to decide between the merits of these famous old lays ...
— The Balladists - Famous Scots Series • John Geddie

... and put you down every syllable With those clever clerkly fingers, All I've forgotten as well as what lingers In this old brain of mine that's but ill able To give you even this poor version Of the speech I spoil, as it were, with stammering —More fault of those who had the hammering Of prosody into me and syntax 700 And did it, not with hobnails ...
— Dramatic Romances • Robert Browning

... colouring and disguising their own errors: and almost all who in that and former ages were such, are in that book censured and set forth: there also is made plain that wholesome advice of Thy Spirit, by Thy good and devout servant: Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And since ...
— The Confessions of Saint Augustine • Saint Augustine

... with beautiful modesty. The position in which she placed herself with respect to the rest, was entirely ladylike, and companionable. She told what she intended, the earnest purpose with which she came, and, with great tact, indicated the indiscretions that might spoil the meeting." ...
— Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, Vol. I • Margaret Fuller Ossoli

... with others it may be a very serious and dangerous fault. All I ask now is, that each and every one of us should try and find it out, and feel it, and keep it in mind; that we may be of a humble spirit with the lowly, which is better than dividing the spoil with ...
— Town and Country Sermons • Charles Kingsley

... the solid element must also be seen to be the work of higher beings operated from without. It is no longer possible for the human soul to have the power of directing the supply for that supply has now to serve his body, which is being built up from without. He would spoil its form if he were to direct the ...
— An Outline of Occult Science • Rudolf Steiner

... the key of the house is requested to apply to M.G., and in case of his absence, to ... signing his name, title, and country, in the same time tell the guide's and muleteer's name, just to drive away those have been so rough to spoil the moveables and destroy the stables ... are the men to be ...
— Notes and Queries, Number 59, December 14, 1850 • Various

... Palmer, I wonder?" said he of the file. "We're all ready for the fakement—pops primed—and I tell you what, Rob Rust, I've made my clasp-knife as sharp as a razor, and damme, if Lady Rookwood offers any resistance, I'll spoil her talking in future, ...
— Rookwood • William Harrison Ainsworth

... flushed. "Oh, Collie!" she cried entreatingly. "We have been such good friends. Please don't spoil it all!" ...
— Overland Red - A Romance of the Moonstone Canon Trail • Henry Herbert Knibbs

... home, I suppose," said Roger faintly; "but, boys, don't let this spoil your fun—don't ...
— Tiger and Tom and Other Stories for Boys • Various

... should spoil it." The Baroness dropped her eyes for some moments. "Do you propose, however, to ...
— The Europeans • Henry James

... alert and remarkable mind—one worthy of companionship with my own." Despite the frivolous badinage of his words and the humorous smile of his lips, his eyes hinted at an underlying intensity. "With no desire to flatter or spoil you, I find your personal aspect pleasing enough to satisfy me. And then, while a man should avoid emotionalism, I am in love with you." He moved over to a place in the sternsheets, and his face became intensely earnest. He dropped his ...
— The Call of the Cumberlands • Charles Neville Buck

... the little lady, "that would spoil it. The pictures look quite alive in the firelight. What ...
— Kimono • John Paris

... she took it to her father, who with great joy sold it for more than twenty ducats, which served to stop up a hole in his affairs. And when he asked Parmetella where she had found it, she said, "Take it, sir, and ask no questions, unless you would spoil your good fortune." The next day she returned and did the same; and she went on plucking the leaves from the tree until it was entirely stript, as if it had been plundered by the winds of Autumn. Then ...
— Stories from Pentamerone • Giambattista Basile

... ruin his reputation, send him to the state prison, and spoil his prospects forever. Now, don't you think it would be better for him to give up the money, if I should say to him that I ...
— Little Bobtail - or The Wreck of the Penobscot. • Oliver Optic

... and learn." Next time, if it ever come, I shall put up peaches in a little box by themselves. But the fact is, peaches can't travel, unless they are plucked so early as nearly to spoil them of all their "deliciarunz,"—which we are enjoying in those we eat here. And Bryant with us,—fruity fellow that he is!—I am glad we have some good fruit to give him. Yesterday we had a very good cantelope, ...
— Autobiography and Letters of Orville Dewey, D.D. - Edited by his Daughter • Orville Dewey

... as if it took more than a can of soda and a box of pepper to spoil his food for him and he explained ...
— The Dude Wrangler • Caroline Lockhart

... gone by. You are in charge of the home yourself, and the "discipline" relaxes a bit. Perhaps you even resort to washing your fruit in cold boiled water instead of scalding it, because scalding does spoil it so! Then the younger workers are sent to you, and you become the head of a new family. One day, suddenly, one of them gets a violently upset stomach. Is it cholera? The nearest hospital is two days' journey away. You catch your breath, and go ahead caring ...
— Have We No Rights? - A frank discussion of the "rights" of missionaries • Mabel Williamson

... here and stand in Cynthia's way. You trade on the fact that you have known us all this time to monopolize her attention. You spoil ...
— The Little Nugget • P.G. Wodehouse

... the town on hearing of the wicked command of Richberta, had come to beg of her not to spoil the precious wheat, but to divide it among those who were so much in want ...
— Legends of the Rhine • Wilhelm Ruland

... look for an attack on Forlorn River," burst out Belding. "I can't believe that possible. These rebel-raiders have a little sense. They wouldn't spoil their game by pulling U. S. soldiers across the line from Yuma to El Paso. But, as Jim says, if they wanted to steal a few horses or cattle they wouldn't build fires. I'm ...
— Desert Gold • Zane Grey

... "We're not going to spoil the whole job and keep the motor waiting for the sake of the few odd bits that remain. ...
— The Crystal Stopper • Maurice LeBlanc

... to tell your lordship," replied Pillichody, "lest it should spoil your mirth; but he broke out of his chamber a few hours ago, and has not been discovered since. Most likely, he will be found in the plague-pit or the Thames in the morning, for he was in such an infuriated state, that it is the opinion of his attendants he would certainly ...
— Old Saint Paul's - A Tale of the Plague and the Fire • William Harrison Ainsworth

... it out. I wouldn't be held up on the reservation now for anything. That would spoil it all. They would do anything they wanted with us if we stood for that, and throw out a lot of legitimate stock ...
— Ted Strong in Montana - With Lariat and Spur • Edward C. Taylor

... If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: 12. Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: 13. We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: 14. Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: 15. My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: 16. For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. 17. (Surely in vain ...
— Expositions Of Holy Scripture - Volume I: St. Luke, Chaps. I to XII • Alexander Maclaren

... I, "Miss, I assure you, never try it again, you will be sure to spoil it. But as I was a sayin, Miss, when you see a thread of a particular colour, you know whether you have any more like it or not, so when a man tells me a story, I know whether I have one of the same kind to match it or not, and if so, I know ...
— Nature and Human Nature • Thomas Chandler Haliburton

... with Honorius, and his attempt once more proving successful, he created Attilus, prefect of the city, emperor. But the imprudent measures of his puppet sovereign exasperated Alaric. Attilus was formally deposed in 410, and the infuriated Goth besieged and sacked Rome, and ravaged Italy. The spoil that the barbarians carried away with them comprised nearly all the movable wealth ...
— The World's Greatest Books, Vol XI. • Edited by Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton

... though guilty of no rebellion, to any one who wished, to be plundered. He gave public notice of this in advance, that as many as possible might assemble, wherefore many Gauls and many Sugambri came for the plunder. It did not suffice the Sugambri, however, to make spoil of Gallic territory, but they attacked the Romans themselves. They watched until the Romans were absent getting provender and made an attempt upon their camp; but meanwhile the other soldiers, perceiving it, came to the rescue and killed a number of the assailants. Inspired with a fear of ...
— Dio's Rome • Cassius Dio

... his funds of war! Two-and-twenty silver groats Taken unto Spain by him Espartero seized as spoil. ...
— Atta Troll • Heinrich Heine

... finds herself married to some beast of a man," flashed Roberta, "some worthless drunkard, do you mean to tell me it is her duty to stick to such a husband, and spoil her whole life?" ...
— Possessed • Cleveland Moffett

... made to suffer ten times as much. Not contented with giving the girl, for a governess, a woman whose temper was as bad as the queen's own, the cruel step-mother did everything she could think of to spoil the girl's beauty, and to force her to appear as ugly as she was herself; but, try as she might, when the hideous clothes and frightful brown paint had been removed, her loveliness shone ...
— The Olive Fairy Book • Various

... things differently. And this kind of thing is going on in numberless houses—an utterly incompetent mistress and a democratic maid in spirited revolt. The incompetents, being in so vast a majority, will sooner or later spoil all the ...
— In the Year of Jubilee • George Gissing

... run for a while," said he. "Bill, you and Larry can ride at the rear. I'll keep Horace and Tom with me, so they won't be tempted to spoil our sport by shooting at the first deer they see, no matter how far out of range it is. For the benefit of you two," he added, addressing the brothers, "I will say that when you are riding a trail, and especially ...
— Comrades of the Saddle - The Young Rough Riders of the Plains • Frank V. Webster

... of all," added Platonov, "that would at once spoil for me all the friendly relations which have been so well ...
— Yama (The Pit) • Alexandra Kuprin

... If you spoil a ballot, return it to the ballot clerk, who will give you another. You cannot have more than two extra ballots, or three in all. You cannot remain within the rail more than ten minutes, and in case all the shelves are in use and other voters waiting, you are allowed ...
— Civil Government in the United States Considered with - Some Reference to Its Origins • John Fiske

... an easy match for two stout opponents at least? Suppose also, that before engaging we send ambassadors to one of the two cities, saying, 'Silver and gold we have not; do you help us and take our share of the spoil;'—who would fight against the lean, wiry dogs, when they might join with them in preying upon the fatted sheep? 'But if many states join their resources, shall we not be in danger?' I am amused to hear you use the ...
— The Republic • Plato

... and variety of the Christmas shops in a great city, the sack of the treasures of the whole earth, which furnish such splendid spoil, recall a remark of Buckle. He says that the history of the world shows enormous progress in all kinds of knowledge, in institutions, in commerce and manufactures, and in every pursuit of human activity, but not in knowledge of moral principle. The most ancient wisdom in morals is also the most ...
— From the Easy Chair, vol. 1 • George William Curtis

... announces an approaching storm, it hastens towards the water. Though single birds may often be shot on these occasions, it is a much less certain sport than killing them on the nest, and less profitable, as in the latter case the eggs form no contemptible part of the spoil. ...
— Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 460 - Volume 18, New Series, October 23, 1852 • Various

... as this Obedient monster purring at its toil; These naked iron muscles dripping oil And the sure-fingered rods that never miss. This long and shining flank of metal is Magic that greasy labor cannot spoil; While this vast engine that could rend the soil Conceals its fury with ...
— American Poetry, 1922 - A Miscellany • Edna St. Vincent Millay

... why he went back on the stage. And as quick as a wink, when no one was looking, with his back to the people, he slipped Lulu Wibblewobble into the empty handbag, and she kept very quiet for she didn't want to spoil the trick. ...
— Bully and Bawly No-Tail • Howard R. Garis

... have done his best to spoil him; but he got for his pains several severe pulls by the ears, boxes on the cheek, and kicks on the shins, so at last he fortunately was compelled to exert his authority and to report him to his head guardians. Billy was a noble little fellow; ...
— True Blue • W.H.G. Kingston

... Pendleton's cup. On one of Aunt Docia's bad days, when Jinny had begged to be allowed to do part of the washing, she had met an almost passionate refusal from her mother. "It will be time enough to spoil your hands after you are married, darling!" And again, "Don't do that rough sewing, Jinny. Give it to me." From the cradle she had borne her part in this racial custom of the sacrifice of generation to generation—of the perpetual immolation of age on the flowery altars of youth. ...
— Virginia • Ellen Glasgow

... finding himself forced into a hostile position, took arms and watched his opportunity. So long as Sapor continued to advance, he kept aloof. As soon, however, as the retreat commenced, and the Persian army, encumbered with its spoil and captives, proceeded to make its way back slowly and painfully to the Euphrates, Odenathus, who had collected a large force, in part from the Syrian villages, in part from the wild tribes of Arabia, made his appearance in the field. His light and agile horsemen hovered about the Persian ...
— The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 7. (of 7): The Sassanian or New Persian Empire • George Rawlinson

... crimp or twist some part of the plumage or render the skin, if an old specimen, too crisp or tender for ultimate handling; thirdly, because even a moderate degree of heat is sufficient to set free the fat contained in the skin, and thus spoil the feathers. ...
— Practical Taxidermy • Montagu Browne

... tender-heartedness into fear. The "happy medium" is the great thing; the most useful, contented, and best-behaved boys that I have seen are those that receive treatment similar to that a highly valued sporting dog gets from a just master; "to pet" stands for "to spoil." Like most black races, the native soon develops a love for liquor; but fortunately there exists a stringent law which prohibits the giving of drink to a black-fellow, except at the ...
— Spinifex and Sand - Five Years' Pioneering and Exploration in Western Australia • David W Carnegie

... quiescent state of the public mind were not on this account the less real or the less important, nor did he suffer them to go unimproved. On one hand, no considerable opposition was made to his assumption of the supremacy; on the other, the spoil of the monasteries was not intercepted in its passage to the royal coffers by the more rapid movements of a populace intoxicated with fanatical rage or fired with hopes of plunder. What appeared still more extraordinary, he found ...
— Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth • Lucy Aikin

... telling the truth. And I do not know how to lie. I wished to spoil our past. I was wrong. It was—you know what ...
— The Red Lily, Complete • Anatole France

... he said. "Only don't let it drip on you. You'll spoil your clothes." There was a faintly scornful note in his voice, and Ferdinand William Otto was quick ...
— Long Live the King • Mary Roberts Rinehart

... become weak in a crisis and spoil their own chances of success, despite the fact that circumstances may have been working in their favor. Some women meet a crisis bravely and do exactly the right thing at the right time but falter and fail after the ...
— The Eugenic Marriage, Vol. 3 (of 4) - A Personal Guide to the New Science of Better Living and Better Babies • W. Grant Hague

... friends—the soeurs, for instance, with whom I went to school. In the old days I was a torment to them, and they were tyrants to me. But they are quite nice to me now—they give me patisserie, and stroke my hands and spoil me." ...
— Lady Rose's Daughter • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... standing, herself, as he remarks, "a very loose, ungodly wretch," protested that his horrible profanity made her tremble; that he was the ungodliest fellow for swearing she had ever heard, and able to spoil all the youth of the town who came in his company. Struck by this wholly unexpected rebuke, he at once abandoned the practice of swearing; although previously he tells us that "he had never known how to speak, unless he put an oath before and ...
— Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 7 of 8 • Charles F. (Charles Francis) Horne

... It is good to bask in the bright sunlight of his adoration! I talked to him of Odette. A strange matter to discuss with a lout, but he was so wonderful a listener! I exaggerated, the temptation was great. How he loathed her by the time I was through ... he actually put forward a plan to 'spoil her looks,' as he put it. He had been working in the same prison gang as a man who was undergoing a term of penal servitude for 'doing in' his girl that way ... vitriol was used, and Sam suggested that he should do the work.... ...
— The Daffodil Mystery • Edgar Wallace

... kings and governments and the advent of the "rule of the righteous." Mary of Hungary was not far wrong when she wrote that they planned to plunder all churches, nobles, and wealthy merchants, in short, all who had property, and from the spoil to distribute to every individual according to his need. [Sidenote: October 7, 1531] A new and severer edict would have meant a general massacre, had it been strictly enforced, but another element entered into the situation. The city bourgeoisies that had previously ...
— The Age of the Reformation • Preserved Smith

... to railing again for nothing? Pray who has most discretion to tell a bus'ness, You, or I? But you, forsooth, are grown so proud of late Because you hope to Marry Don Gerardo; That there's no speaking to you: Marry gip. 'Faith I shall spoil your ...
— The Fatal Jealousie (1673) • Henry Nevil Payne

... contempt of christian diet. It gives true epicures the vapors To see boiled mutton minus capers. Boiled turkey, gourmands know, of course Is exquisite with celery sauce. Roasted in paste, a haunch of mutton Might make ascetics play the glutton. To roast spring chickens is to spoil them, Just split them down the back and broil them, Shad, stuffed and baked is most delicious, T'would have electrified Apicius. Roast veal with rich stock gravy serve, And pickled mushrooms too, observe, The ...
— My Pet Recipes, Tried and True - Contributed by the Ladies and Friends of St. Andrew's Church, Quebec • Various

... pray for me. I would like before I die—it has been one of the choicest wishes of my soul—to be able to make The Salvation Army such a power for God and of such benefit to mankind that no wicked people can spoil it. ...
— The Authoritative Life of General William Booth • George Scott Railton

... at school sometimes, and I can't bear to spoil her little atonements, though they are not always needed or very wise," answered Teacher. "Not long ago I found that she had been giving her lunch day after day to a poor child who seldom had any, ...
— Under the Lilacs • Louisa May Alcott

... possible. One section is given over to brass and copper dishes, another to furs, another to porcelains, and so on. Indeed, the town seems to be a very good place for "picking up" things, for hither come men from the far distant Tibetan lamasseries, and patient effort is often rewarded with interesting spoil, while Chinese productions of real value sometimes drift into the bazaar from the collections of the ...
— A Wayfarer in China - Impressions of a trip across West China and Mongolia • Elizabeth Kendall

... she cried, "because you still can make pretty speeches. Thank you for the roses, Mr. Asticot. If I wore one would you paint it in? Or would it spoil your colour scheme?" ...
— The Beloved Vagabond • William J. Locke

... consequence of consent, and is sharpened in consequence of refusal; and it is the passion of violating all women whatever, who altogether refuse, and violently resist, whether they be maidens, or widows, or wives. Persons addicted to this lust are like robbers and pirates, who are delighted with spoil and plunder, and not with what is given and justly acquired; and they are like malefactors, who covet what is disallowed and forbidden, and despise what is allowed and granted. These violators are altogether averse to consent, and are set on fire by resistance, ...
— The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love • Emanuel Swedenborg

... brown bosom pent, the hardy wight Long in deep caverns dwells; and hard doth smite The rocky caves. Nor sees the golden spoil Through weary days of wasted, lonely toil. From his wild eyes, far-flying hides the prize, Till desperate, angered, worn, aloud he cries: 'Vain, vain! The caves my labor answer not, Nor yellow threads, that gleam in any grot. Hard, cruel, silent hills, my ...
— Lilith - The Legend of the First Woman • Ada Langworthy Collier

... 313. Beauclerk wrote to Lord Charlemont in 1773:—'If you do not come here, I will bring all the club over to Ireland to live with you, and that will drive you here in your own defence, Johnson shall spoil your books, Goldsmith pull your flowers, and Boswell talk to you: stay then if you can.' Charlemont's Life, i. 347. Yet Garrick had lent Johnson some books, for Johnson wrote to him on Oct. 10, 1766:—'I return you thanks for the present ...
— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 2 • Boswell, Edited by Birkbeck Hill

... the shore on this side, the indians returned as they had passed over. we directed half this deer to be given to the indians, they immediately made a fire and cooked their meat, 4 others joined them from the village with the assistance of whom they consumed their portion of the spoil in less than 2 hours and took their leave of our camp. The Creem of tartar and sulpher operated several times on the child in the course of the last night, he is considerably better this morning, tho the swelling of the neck has abated but little; we still apply ...
— The Journals of Lewis and Clark • Meriwether Lewis et al

... for the turnpikes*** I have set up, they are for other people, not for my friend John. I have ordered my servant constantly to attend, to let thy carriages through without paying anything; only I hope thou wilt not come too heavy laden to spoil my ways. Certainly I have just cause of offence against thee, my friend, for supposing it possible that thou and I should ever quarrel. What houndsfoot is it that puts these whims in thy head? Ten thousand last of devils haul me, if I don't love thee as I love my life. [No question, ...
— The History of John Bull • John Arbuthnot

... with dreadful ships Full of strange spoil and fire, And hairy men, as strange as sin, With horrid heads, came wading in ...
— Henrik Ibsen • Edmund Gosse

... shaft had been sunk, as it should be, in the eastern flank of the hill, which faces north 71 east, and which runs north 3 west (both true). The surface and subsoil are the usual sandy loam scattered with gravel of quartz and ironstone, and the spoil-banks showed blue and white quartz. The clay-slate, dark, soft, and laminated, appeared everywhere. Lower down, on the same slope, Mr. Grant had dug a second shaft, somewhat smaller than the upper: both were full of rain-water. Mr. Walker mentions ...
— To The Gold Coast for Gold, Vol. II - A Personal Narrative • Richard Francis Burton and Verney Lovett Cameron

... Master asked: "How can one enter into a strong 399:30 man's house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?" In other words: How can I heal the body, without beginning with so-called 400:1 mortal mind, which directly controls the body? When disease is once destroyed in this so-called mind, the fear ...
— Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures • Mary Baker Eddy

... heart, disclose; It was from cheeks that shamed the rose, From lips that spoil the ruby's praise, From eyes that mock the diamond's blaze: Whence comes my woe? as freely own; Ah me! 'twas ...
— Specimens with Memoirs of the Less-known British Poets, Complete • George Gilfillan

... belied by mobile lips and mischievous fair curls of Northern ancestry; the other, leaning forward intent upon the music, and caressing his moustache with bent fingers upon which glittered a jewel set in massive gold—some scarab or intaglio, the spoil of old Magna Graecia. His conversation, during the intervals, moved among the accepted formulas of cosmopolitanism with easy flow, quickened at times by the individual emphasis of a man who can forsake conventional tracks and think for himself. Among ...
— Old Calabria • Norman Douglas

... food of the people is goats' milk and unsifted rye, which they bake into cakes in the autumn, and these cakes last them the whole year—the grain, if left unbaked, being apt to grow mouldy and spoil in so damp an atmosphere. Besides, fuel is so scarce that it is necessary to exercise the greatest economy in its use, every stick burnt in the village having to be brought from a distance of some twelve miles, on the backs of ...
— The Huguenots in France • Samuel Smiles

... supper and to bed. This afternoon I was surprized with a letter without a name to it, very well writ, in a good stile, giving me notice of my cozen Kate Joyce's being likely to ruin herself by marriage, and by ill reports already abroad of her, and I do fear that this keeping of an inne may spoil her, being a young and pretty comely woman, and thought to be left well. I did answer the letter with thanks and good liking, and am resolved to take the advice he gives me, and go see her, and find out what I can: but if she will ruin herself, I cannot ...
— Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete • Samuel Pepys

... secured a monopoly in Munster and an effective competition with us in poor Connaught. It was hard lines for the Midland, but all was not yet lost. If only we could obtain running powers to Limerick and carry them back to Ireland, we should have secured some of the spoil. Another week was spent fighting over running powers, facilities, etc., and I was in the witness box again. Balfour Browne and Littler now conducted the warfare on either side, and keenly they fought. The Committee at one time ...
— Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland • Joseph Tatlow

... your letter. 'What did I expect?' Why I expected just that, a letter in turn. Also I am graciously pleased (yes, and very much pleased!) to 'let you write to-morrow.' How you spoil me with goodness, which makes one 'insolent' as I ...
— The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, Vol. 1 (of 2) 1845-1846 • Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett

... different," she replied confidently. He saw that he had been wrong—nothing had changed, lessened. Howat swore silently. That damnable episode might well spoil her entire existence. But he wisely avoided argument, comment. A warm current of air, fragrant with apple blossoms, caught the ribbon-like smoke of his cigarette and dissipated it. She smiled with half-closed eyes at the new flowering of earth. Her expression grew serious, firm. ...
— The Three Black Pennys - A Novel • Joseph Hergesheimer

... amusing scene for those who had no finery to spoil, and who ran only the risk of taking cold, to see these poor women drenched with the rain, running in every direction, with or without a cavalier, and hunting for shelter which could ...
— The Private Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Complete • Constant

... her ties his are the closest. You no doubt, because you love me, but are of a tender disposition so that distress affects you, would have acted otherwise, and better; and yet probably were I to put myself entirely in your hands, you would spoil me and ruin me: for no quality a man can have is so dangerous as vanity, ...
— The Old Man of the Mountain, The Lovecharm and Pietro of Abano - Tales from the German of Tieck • Ludwig Tieck

... twigg'd field-marshals, pickings snug and handsome, Twelve waggons now are loaded with my spoil. ...
— The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor - Volume I, Number 1 • Stephen Cullen Carpenter

... in the world. Wear your white tam, dear, and the white mittens. They look so well with your brown suit. Tie the white silk scarf about your neck—that's it. Now run. I'm so afraid somebody will call the doctor out and spoil it all." ...
— The Second Violin • Grace S. Richmond

... was impracticable, or that I must have perished in the abyss. I readily gave in to the former idea; stating I had been led by the traces of the wounded deer to a considerable distance, and over passes which it had proved a work of time and difficulty to surmount, yet without securing my spoil. All this time there was a glow of animation on my cheek, and a buoyancy of spirit in my speech, that accorded ill, the first, with the fatigue one might have been supposed to experience in so perilous a chase; the second, with the disappointment attending its result. Your father, ever cool ...
— Wacousta: A Tale of the Pontiac Conspiracy (Complete) • John Richardson

... and you're just the very chap to help me. I won't spoil sport, my boy, but I'll travel up with you—and, by Jove, we might stop at the same hotel, if that wouldn't ...
— The Prodigal Father • J. Storer Clouston

... lost nearly all of their property during the sack, and many were left entirely destitute. The house in which Mr. Ford lives was plundered of jewels and furniture to the amount of 400,000 piastres ($20,000). The robbers, it is said, were amazed at the amount of spoil they found. The Government made some feeble efforts to recover it, but the greater part was already sold and scattered through a thousand hands, and the unfortunate Christians have only received about seven ...
— The Lands of the Saracen - Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily, and Spain • Bayard Taylor

... with white clay to celebrate the removal of their enemy from his sphere of meretricious activity. This inversion may arise from the fact that whitewashing a creditor who was about to be cooked would be unwise, as the stuff would boil off the bits and spoil the gravy. There is always some fragment of sound sense underlying African institutions. Kiva was, when I got out, tied up, talking nineteen to the dozen; and so was every one else; and a lady was working up white ...
— Travels in West Africa • Mary H. Kingsley

... Dangers of Deviating from Divine Institutions. Col. ii. 8—"Beware lest any man spoil you through Philosophy and vain deceit," ...
— Sermons on Various Important Subjects • Andrew Lee

... darky looked down on the pile of burnt and ruined meat in disgust. "I knowed you chillen's would go an' spoil de best part ob my bear. Now you-all jis get out ob de way an' dis nigger goin' to show you how ...
— The Boy Chums in the Forest - or Hunting for Plume Birds in the Florida Everglades • Wilmer M. Ely

... not fail madam and spoil everything at this last moment, she braced herself to go on with the farce ...
— The Masked Bridal • Mrs. Georgie Sheldon

... but one. Take back thy maid." He ceased, and o'er Mahwissa's face a shade Of mingled scorn and pity and surprise Sweeps as she slow retreats, and thus replies: "Rich is the pale-faced chief in battle fame, But poor is he who but one wife may claim. Wives are the red-skinned heroes' rightful spoil; In war they prove his strength, in times ...
— Custer, and Other Poems. • Ella Wheeler Wilcox

... grievance about the creation of an independent Albania which deprived them of a great stretch of territory on the Adriatic which they had hoped to share. Both felt that yet another war was necessary to settle issues as to the division of the spoil with Bulgaria. ...
— Bulgaria • Frank Fox

... be careful, of course. I don't want the girls going over to Loon Pond, anyway. I want them to have this time in the woods, and live in a natural way, and the Loon Pond people at the hotel just spoil the woods for me. But I don't believe there's any reason for being really ...
— The Camp Fire Girls at Long Lake - Bessie King in Summer Camp • Jane L. Stewart

... dresses and faldettas, and black-robed priests, all helped to carry the imagination over the Mediterranean and up the Adriatic to lovely Venice. At this hour in the morning there were not many English soldiers or sailors to spoil the illusion. ...
— A Voyage in the 'Sunbeam' • Annie Allnut Brassey

... contention," cried Le Mesge, who seemed to me to be getting a bit overloaded. "I call the gentleman to witness," he went on, turning to me. "He has just come. He is unbiased. Therefore I ask him: has one the right to spoil a Bambara cook by addling his head with theological discussions for ...
— Atlantida • Pierre Benoit

... ought to be talked to when she comes here mocking me. Now, Harlan, if you want this in the open instead of in private, where it ought to be, I'll give it to you straight from the shoulder. You're not going to marry that girl. She shan't steal you and spoil you. I've told you so before. I give it to ...
— The Ramrodders - A Novel • Holman Day

... herself, "dreadfully, awfully old, and he's punishing me for being young. Oh! It's wicked, it's wicked. If only I had a father to spoil me and let me live! If only Mother hadn't forgotten all about me in her own happiness! If only I had money of my own and could run away and ...
— Who Cares? • Cosmo Hamilton

... some such method the bishops obtained their power over their fellow presbyters, and both over the people. The whole tenor of the Gospel directly contrary to it." Then it is not an allowable means: This carries it so far as to spoil his own system; it is a sin to have ...
— The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, Vol. III.: Swift's Writings on Religion and the Church, Vol. I. • Jonathan Swift

... "I'll spoil you, you dog," snarled Jarette, and I saw him snatch a lantern from one of the men and lean down, holding the light over the open hold. "Hi! below there," he roared; "leave that spirit-keg ...
— Sail Ho! - A Boy at Sea • George Manville Fenn

... at the New York Hippodrome; the Gilson girl had fallen on her head at Budapest. They were mad, thought Lily, to do all that without being obliged to! No, no; no more of that for her! The last thing she wanted was to spoil her face, seeing that she had nothing but her smile to keep her. And Lily grew timid, looked upon herself more and more as a very precious little thing. She gave herself terrible airs on rehearsal day; thought the stage too slippery, or too small. Lily wanted a stage thirty ...
— The Bill-Toppers • Andre Castaigne

... purity, between the foul kisses of the temptress at his side and the warnings of the prophet in his dungeon. But in all his vacillation he could not help listening to John, but 'heard him gladly,' and mind and conscience approved the nobler voice. Thus he staggered along, with religion enough to spoil some of his sinful delights, but not enough to make ...
— Expositions of Holy Scripture - St. Mark • Alexander Maclaren

... lead had become unsoldered and they could take away the coffin and leave the sacred dust it had contained. Years passed, and the reign of Napoleon bringing a better day, rebuked the Vandalism that would dishonor all greatness and spoil even its grave. The facts regarding the acts of desecration were legally ascertained and the bones of the good archbishop triumphantly reserved for a nobler than the ancient sepulchre. There was a poetical justice in the preservation of them from violence. It was well that the bloody ...
— Gifts of Genius - A Miscellany of Prose and Poetry by American Authors • Various

... Tacitus who now speaks) were totally exterminated by the neighboring tribes, [78] provoked by their insolence, allured by the hopes of spoil, and perhaps inspired by the tutelar deities of the empire. Above sixty thousand barbarians were destroyed; not by the Roman arms, but in our sight, and for our entertainment. May the nations, enemies of Rome, ever preserve this enmity to each other! We have now ...
— The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume 1 • Edward Gibbon

... I would not lack Than your stout forayers at my back; But as in form of peace I go, A friendly messenger, to know Why through all Scotland, near and far, Their King is mustering troops for war. The sight of plundering Border spears Might justify suspicious fears, And deadly feud, or thirst of spoil, Break out in some unseemly broil: A herald were my fitting guide; Or friar, sworn in peace to bide Or pardoner, or travelling priest, Or strolling pilgrim, ...
— Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field • Walter Scott

... or three whippings every day. You see my mother didn't let God do it all. You know if you spare the rod you spoil the child, and that switch stimulated, regulated, persuaded and strengthened my memory, and went a long way toward making me do the things my mother told me to do. Hurrah for my mother! God bless ...
— Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States - Volume II. Arkansas Narratives. Part I • Work Projects Administration

... cold politeness: "Good morning." But she asked the spring morning in dumb piteousness, "Oh, why has he come? Why has he come to spoil it all?" ...
— The Red Planet • William J. Locke

... stores not much spoiled. They loaded themselves with as much as they could carry, and started for home, meaning to make a second journey before the preventive men got wind of their doings and came to spoil the fun. But as my father was passing back under the Dean, he happened to take a look over his shoulder at the bodies there. 'Hullo,' says he, and dropped his gear: 'I do believe there's a leg moving!' And, running fore, he stooped over the ...
— Wandering Heath • Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

... had weakly yielded to sentimental pity for an attractive girl and had paid for it, because she had, no doubt, warned Daly, who knew from Foster's boldness that he had learned enough to make him dangerous. The latter grimly resolved that he would not let any Quixotic folly spoil his plans again. He had been cleverly tricked, but was not beaten yet, because a study of the steamship advertisements led him to believe that Daly could not leave Liverpool until the afternoon. Moreover, the fellow was ...
— Carmen's Messenger • Harold Bindloss

... Jane Holland and George Tanqueray, and they tried not to smile. Jane would have died rather than have hurt Nicky's feelings. It was not in her to spoil his perfect day. All the same, it had been their secret jest that Nicky was immortal. He would never end, never by any possibility disappear. As he stuck now, he always would stick. He was going ...
— The Creators - A Comedy • May Sinclair

... was not profane. But the combination of qualities required is such as would hardly be found for centuries together. The most fine and sensitive tact of piety would be essential. With it must go absolute sincerity and singleness of purpose. Any dash of mere conventionalism or self-seeking would spoil the whole. There must be that clear illuminated insight that is only given to those who are in a more than ordinary sense 'pure in heart.' And on the other hand, along with these unique spiritual qualities must go a sound and exact scientific training, a just perception of logical force ...
— The Gospels in the Second Century - An Examination of the Critical Part of a Work - Entitled 'Supernatural Religion' • William Sanday

... shall think about it. Carry novel, of course, adjourned sine die; haven't got time just now—you know what a fellow I am. Just got her letter; very naive and amusing—but don't tell her so, or else she will pose for that and spoil it. Here is a little drawing for you. Do all honour to it, since it has met with a little ...
— In Bohemia with Du Maurier - The First Of A Series Of Reminiscences • Felix Moscheles

... "Sorry to spoil trade, but I've saved your check, gentlemen," he said. "That stock's stolen. Thomas Gorst and other names, Will Stephens, and Thomas Fletcher, would you like to glance at this warrant? No! well, it's no use looking ugly, there are men at either ...
— Lorimer of the Northwest • Harold Bindloss

... leave them houseless and exposed in their daily business. So much does their patois seem to be their refuge from the heavy and multitudinous experiences of a literary tongue, that the stopping of a fox's earth might be taken as the image of any act that should spoil or stop the talk of the associated seclusion of their town, and leave them in the bleakness of ...
— Essays • Alice Meynell

... into the cloud of ducks, then waded in and took at least a dozen dead ones. The foolish ducks flew further up the lake and settled down again, where a further slaughter was committed. Then the Indians, loaded with the spoil, ...
— The Riflemen of the Ohio - A Story of the Early Days along "The Beautiful River" • Joseph A. Altsheler

... gates of bronze and the gold-plated roof of the vast national temple—gold-plated at the enormous cost of twenty-one thousand talents, the rich spoil of Carthage—the shrine of Jupiter Capitoline, and Juno, and Minerva, sent back the sun-beams in lines too dazzling to be borne by any human eye; and all the pomp of statues grouped on the marble terraces, and guarding the ascent of the ...
— The Roman Traitor (Vol. 1 of 2) • Henry William Herbert

... said he, "what business had you with that petticoat? Can't you let a young fellow enjoy a little amour with an innkeeper's daughter, without exposing his infirmities to your wife? Pshaw! that's so malicious, because you have quitted these adventures yourself, to spoil the sport ...
— The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, Volume I • Tobias Smollett

... breath, then began: "The old gentleman was a hot Catholic. There was no harm in that, you will think. And I am not such a fool as to spoil a night like this ...
— The Pines of Lory • John Ames Mitchell

... sex, as children birds, pursue, Still out of reach, yet never out of view; Sure, if they catch, to spoil the toy at most, To covet flying, and regret when lost: At last, to follies youth could scarce defend, It grows their age's prudence to pretend; Ashamed to own they gave delight before, Reduced to feign it, ...
— English Poets of the Eighteenth Century • Selected and Edited with an Introduction by Ernest Bernbaum



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