▪ I. foil, n.1
(fɔɪl)
Forms: 4–7 foil(l)e, 4–8 foyl(l)e, (5 fole, 7 fyle), 5– foil.
[a. OF. foil, fuil, fueil masc. (= Pr. folh, fuoill, It. foglio:—L. folium leaf, cogn. with Gr. ϕῦλλον), and OF. foille, fueille fem. (mod.F. feuille, = Pr. folha. foilla, Sp. hoja, It. foglia:—L. folia, pl. of folium). The fem. n., originally collective, has superseded the masc. in all mod.Rom. langs., except that It. foglio remains in the sense ‘leaf of a book’.]
† 1. a. A leaf (of a plant). Obs.
| 14.. Lydg. Balade of our Ladie vi, Fructified oliue of foiles faire and thicke. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. v. 144 Take Of violette, not but oonly the foil. c 1450 Two Cookery-bks. ii. 102 Wete faire foiles of parcely in vinegre. |
† b. With allusion to the annual fall of the leaf: A year. Cf. Fr. vin de deux, trois feuilles. Obs.—1
| 1481 Caxton Tully's Friendsh. iv, For the more foylles that the wyne is of the more plesaunt it is in drynkyng. |
2. The representation of a leaf. a. Her.
| 1562 Leigh Armorie (1597) 95 This though it be termed a foyle, yet is it a flower by the name of the primrose. |
b. Arch. One of the small arcs or spaces between the cusps of a window. foil arch (see quot. 1891).
| 1835 R. Willis Archit. Mid. Ages 195 Multifoils, with the foils alternately round and angular. 1849 Freeman Archit. 344 Foil arches are doubtless one of the Arabian features of the style. 1891 Adeline's Art Dict., Foil Arch..is an arch made of our several smaller arches or foils. |
† 3. By analogy: Anything flat and thin. Obs. a. A thin layer (of any material), a leaf, paring.
| ? c 1390 Form of Cury in Warner Antiq. Culin. (1791) 18 Take a thynne foyle of dowh, and Kerve it in pieces. c 1450 Two Cookery-bks. ii. 96 Cast there-on..foyles of tried ginger pared. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 493 The mast-Holme also may be cut into fine thin foile or leaues like plates. |
b. A leaf (of paper).
| 1528 Will of J. Parke (Somerset Ho.), Paper conteynyng vj foyles or leves. |
c. A counterfoil.
| a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 69 To recorde the foylles of provision weekely. 1511–2 Act 3 Hen. VIII, c. 23 §3 The same Barons..[shall] cause the Chamberleyn..to joyne the said tailes.. to their foile or foiles. 1601 F. Tate Househ. Ord. Edw. II §40 (1876) 23 He shal receve and write the foilles of the tallies. 1738 Hist. Crt. Excheq. v. 9 They shewed him their Tallies of Payment below, the Foils of which were likewise entred. |
4. a. As a substance (without pl.): Metal hammered or rolled into a thin sheet; often with the name of a metal prefixed; as, gold-foil, silver-foil, tin-foil.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. de P.R. xvi. iv. (Tollem. MS.) Golde..bitwene þe anfelde and þe hamoure with oute breakynge..streccheþ in to golde foyle. c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. i. 27 When þou dressyst forth, plante it with foyle of Syluer. 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 236 b, Makers and leyers of golde foyle occupie a boris tothe. 1598 Stow Surv. vii. (1603) 53 Fine siluer, such as was then made into foyle. 1685 Cole Let. to Ray in Ray's Lett. (1718) 197 Some..covered with a superficies as thin, and exactly of the Colour of silver Foil. 1794 N. E. Kindersley Hindoo Lit., Hist. Nella-Rajah 117 The wings, generally of a mixed green and yellow, have the appearance of foil. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 373 When heated on platinum foil it gives a beautiful purple smoke. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sc. I. ii. 47 Blackened zinc foil..is instantly caused to blaze. |
| fig. 1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Vict., On Earth 18 That aged Syre could tip his tongue With golden foyle of eloquence. |
b. A sheet of the same (in modern use an amalgam of tin and quicksilver) placed behind the glass of a mirror, to produce a reflexion.
| a 1583 W. Bourne Prop. Glasses i. in Rara Math. (1838) 35 Lookinge Glasses..are those sortes of Glasses, that have a ffoyle, layde on the backe syde thereof. 1625 B. Jonson Staple of N. v. i, I now begin to see my vanity, Shine in this Glasse, reflected by the foile! 1662 J. Bargrave Pope Alex. VII (1867) 131 The isinglass having a foyle of quicksilver and pewter put behind it, like a lookingglass. 1832 G. R. Porter Porcelain & Gl. 210 The art of properly effecting this deposit of the glass upon the foil. |
c. In wider sense: A backing.
| 1684 R. Waller Nat. Exper. 42 The Air..serving as a Foile to the lower Superficies of a Lens of Glass. 1859 Gullick & Timbs Paint. 13 Silver..served as a foil over which yellow and other colours ground with oil were glazed. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 403/1 The foundation colour should form a foil for that which is inlaid on it. |
d. Used as a wrapping, container, etc., for food.
| 1946 Steelways Sept. 30 Aluminum foil is the star in frozen foods packaging. 1959 Woman 30 May 3/4 The little foil trays in which tarts are sold are useful afterwards for placing beneath medicine bottles. 1961 Harrods Food News 3 Cover the pan with two or three layers of foil. 1969 Daily Tel. 27 Mar. 17/4 Cut and trim the toast bread and set it in table position (tightly foil-wrapped to keep it perfectly moist) with the butter. |
5. a. A thin leaf of some metal placed under a precious stone to increase its brilliancy or under some transparent substance to give it the appearance of a precious stone.
| c 1592 Marlowe Jew of Malta ii. ii, What sparkle does it [the diamond] give without a foil? a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) I. 300 They [Cornish diamonds]..set with a good foil..may at the first sight deceive no unskilful lapidary. 1767 Gray Let. to Mason 19 July, In gems that want colour and perfection, a foil is put under them to add to their lustre. In others, as in diamonds, the foil is black; and in this sense, when a pretty woman chooses to appear in public with a homely one, we say she uses her as a foil. 1875 in Ure's Dict. Arts II. 465. |
† b. The setting (of a jewel). Obs.
| 1587 Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 19, I frame the foyle, I graue the golde, I fashion up the ring. 1611 Bible Song Sol. v. 12 marg. Set as a precious stone in the foile of a ring. |
| fig. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 266 A foyle wherein thou art to set The precious Iewell of thy home returne. 1650 W. Brough Sacr. Princ. (1659) 506 O Bright Diamond of Heaven..Set in the Foil of Flesh, for a Time. |
6. Anything that serves by contrast of colour or quality to adorn another thing or set it off to advantage.
| 1581 J. Bell tr. Haddon's Answ. Osor. 145 b, He practizeth to make his defence carry a certeine shewe of truth, paintyng it out with a deceavable foyle. 1639 Mayne City Match ii. ii, I need no foile, nor shall I think I me white only between two Moores. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 112 ¶4 His Friends observe these little Singularities as Foils that rather set off than blemish his good Qualities. 1791 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Ode to my Ass Wks. 1812 II.. 466 Lady Mount her Majesty's fine foil. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. I. xvi. 378 Real excellence does not seek for a foil in inferiority. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sc. (1879) I. vi. 202 They formed a bright foil to the sombre mass. |
7. attrib. and Comb., as foil-ground, foil-paper, foil-spangle; also foil-alum, alum in foils or laminæ; foil-stone (see quot. 1858).
| 1453 in Heath Grocers' Comp. (1829) 322 Alum, *foyle or rooch, y⊇ bale..iiijd. |
| 1859 Gullick & Timbs Paint. 13 Gold and silver, glazed or lacquered *foil-grounds. |
| 1859 Sala Gas-light & D. ii. 20 *Foil-paper, spangles and Dutch Metal. |
| 1851 R. F. Burton Goa 133 A pair of slippers adorned with *foil spangles. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Foil-stone, an imitation jewel. |
▪ II. foil, n.2
(fɔɪl)
Forms: 5–7 foyle, 6–7 foile, 7 Sc. foillie, 6– foil.
[f. foil v.1 4.]
† 1. Wrestling. The fact of being almost thrown; a throw not resulting in a flat fall; also in phrase to give (a person) the foil. Obs. Cf. fall n. 13.
| 1553 [see fall n. 13]. 1567 Trial Treasure B ij, In wrestling with me he gaue me the foyle. 1622 Breton Strange Newes (Grosart) 6/1 Chiefly wrestling, when they haue more foiles then faire falls. 1687 Answ. to Representer's 8th Ch. 4 Two Foils makes a Fall. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Foil, a Fall in Wrestling, that is not clearly given. 1721–90 in Bailey. |
2. A repulse, defeat in an onset or enterprise; a baffling check. arch. † In early use often in phrases: to give a or the foil; to have, receive, take a (the, one's) foil; to put to (a, the) foil.
| c 1478 in Eng. Gilds 304 Myndynge not to take the foyle, stande to defende theyre cause. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Pref. 11 Could neuer yet fynde how to geue him any foile. 1573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 13 Considering what a foul shame and foil it had alreddi bene unto me. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 427 Chabrias..having put to foile and defaited some few Thebans. 1609 Hume Admon. in Wodr. Soc. Misc. (1844) 582 And receaved the foillie. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. iii. 145 The alternate changes of foiles and victories. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. lxiv. (1739) 132 The Lords received the first blow, and gave the first foil. a 1716 South Serm. (1744) XI. 24 It may give a man many a..foil and many a disheartening blow. 1738 tr. Johnson's ad Urbanum in Gentl. Mag. May, Whom no base calumny can put to foil. 1814 Southey Roderick xviii. 358 When Africa received her final foil. 1821 J. Baillie Met. Leg., Wallace lv. Ashamed and wroth at such unseemly foil. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 232 He thinks No more of yesterday's disgrace and foil. |
† b. With mixture of the sense of foil v.1 6: A disgrace, stigma. Obs.
| 1599 Porter Angry Wom. Abingd. (Percy Soc.) 26 It hath set a foyle upon thy fame. 1616 Breton Good & Badde 5/2 He [an Vnworthy king] is the foyle of a crowne. |
† 3. The cause of (one's) defeat or failure. Obs.
| a 1683 Oldham Ode to Vice Poet. Wks. (1686) 106 Thou..Whom baffled Hell esteems its greatest Foyl. a 1704 T. Brown Sat. agst. Woman Wks. 1730 I. 55 Oh! gawdy source of all mens hopes and fears, Foil of their youth. |
▪ III. † foil, n.3 Obs.
In 6 foill. Also Sc. fulyie.
[f. foil v.]
What is trampled under foot; hence, Manure, dung.
| 1565 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 244 Raffe Vasye of lumlye castell oweth me for all my foill or muke that I left at my fermhold at crook. |
▪ IV. foil, n.4
(fɔɪl)
Forms: 6 pl. ? foyelles (perh. mispr. for foylles), 6–7 foyl(e, 7– foil.
[f. foil v.1 (sense 2); cf. OF. foulis, Cotgr. foulée, foulement in same sense, f. fouler foil v.1]
The track of a hunted animal.
| 1576 Turberv. Venerie 77 Marking all his tokens as well by the slot as by the entries, foyelles, and such like. 1674 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. i. (1677) 72 The Dew will be beaten off, the Foil fresh, or the ground broken. a 1734 North Lives II. 353 Fellows..have lain down upon the foil to prove whether the dogs followed the track or not. 1810 Sporting Mag. XXXV. 206 Having rounded the hill he crossed the foil. 1894 Scotsman 27 Aug. 11/2 Mr. Davidson decided to lay the hounds on the foil of the otter first found. |
| fig. 1682 Otway Venice Preserved iii, What, hunt A wife on the dull foil! 1684 Southerne Disappointment i, Fleeting pleasure leaves me on the foyle. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vii. iv, Here's another b― follows me upon the foil. 1790 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Ode to Bruce iii, O Bruce, thou treadest Abyssinian grounds; Nor can our British noses hunt thy foil. |
b. Phrases. to run (or † take) the foil, to run upon the foil: to run over the same track a second time (with the effect of baffling the hounds). to break her foil: to run out of the track after having doubled.
| 1601 in Farr S. P. Eliz. (1845) II. 431 The chafed deare doth take the foyle. 1650 Fuller Pisgah iv. iii. 44 No Hare, when hardly put to it..and running foile, makes moe doublings. 1781 P. Beckford Hunting xi. 151 You must..try to hit her off where she breaks her foil. 1798 Sporting Mag. XI. 87 The ground so stained by running the foil that the scent lay with no certainty. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss. s.v., To run the foil. |
| transf. and fig. 1658 J. Harrington Prerog. Pop. Govt. i. x. (1700) 289 To affirm that..is to run upon the foil. 1666 J. Smith Old Age 233 From whence it [the blood] is recommitted into the right ventricle of the Heart, to be chased the Foyl. 1878 Cumbld. Gloss. Suppl. s.v., ‘Runnin' oald foils’, following former courses. |
Add: c. Any scent that tends to obliterate that of a hunted animal. Cf. foil v.1 5.
| 1930 C. Frederick et al. Foxhunting v. 74 A hound dislikes ‘foil’, whether it be the stain from the pack, that of horsemen,..burning of woods, railway trains, and of late years motor cars. 1946 M. C. Self Horseman's Encycl. 454 Wily foxes will often run deliberately through a field of sheep or cattle in order that the ‘foil’ of the other animals will cause a check. |
▪ V. foil, n.5
(fɔɪl)
Forms; 6–7 foile, foyle, 8 file, 7– foil.
[Of obscure origin.
Usually regarded as f. foil v.1, and as denoting etymologically ‘a sword with the point foiled or blunted.’ But the vb. does not appear to have meant ‘to blunt’: the reading of the quarto in Oth. i. iii. 270, even if genuine, does not admit of this interpretation. Another suggestion is that the phrase at foils originally belonged to foil n.2 in the sense of parrying, and that the name of the instrument was evolved from the phrase. It is noteworthy that foin n. occurs in 17th c. in the sense of foil; possible (in spite of the want of evidence) this goes back to the 16th c, so that foil might be an etymologizing alteration of foin, after foil v.1 That the word is, by some far-fetched association, a transferred use of foil n.1 a leaf (cf. F. fleuret fencing foil, lit. ‘floweret’, the button being compared to a bud) is a possibility for which at present there is no evidence.]
1. A light weapon used in fencing; a kind of small-sword with a blunt edge and a button at the point.
| 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. 21 Iacke Leiden..had..a peece of a rustie sword..by his side..it was but a foyle neither, and he wore it, to shewe that he should haue the foyle of his Enemies. 1606 Drummond of Hawthornden Let. 6 Aug. Wks. (1711) 233 They would have most willingly taken the buttons off the foils. 1703 S. Centlivre Beau's Duel iii. i. I hope to see it as much a fashion to fight with files, as 'tis to fence with them. 1729 Art of Fencing 3 The Sword (or File, in imitation of the Sword). 1852 Thackeray Esmond i. xiv, I can use the foils..indifferently well. |
2. pl. The exercise of fencing with foils, esp. in phrase at foils.
| 1600 Nashe Summers Last Will (Grosart) 130 It makes him..fight..as though hee were but a foyles amongst his fellows. a 1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary ii. v, Credulous. Where's your cloak? Andrew. Going to foiles ev'n now, I put it off. 1841–44 Emerson Ess., Prudence Wks. (Bohn) I. 100 Entire self-possession may make a battle very little more dangerous to life than a match at foils. |
3. attrib., as foil-button.
| 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie iii. xi. 226 This bumbast foile-button..For want of talke-stuffe, fals to foinery, Out goes his Rapier. |
▪ VI. foil, v.1
(fɔɪl)
Forms: 4–6 foile, foyle, 7 foyl, 6– foil. See also foul v. and Sc. fulyie v.
[irreg. repr. of OF. fuler, foler, fouler (mod.F. fouler), to full cloth, to tread, trample down, press hard upon, crush, oppress; corresponding to Pr. folar, Sp. hollar, It. follare in similar senses:—popular Lat. *fullāre originally to full cloth, f. fullō a fuller: cf. full v.
The Eng. forms foyle, foil, and Sc. fulȝe, fulyie, would normally represent not OF. foler, fouler, but fouillier (mod.F. fouiller), which has the quite different senses ‘to dig, grub up, root (as a swine), search’. The cause of the irregularity has not been discovered: a suggestion is that the n. foulis, foleïz = foil n.3 may have been confused with fouillis the ‘rooting’ of a swine, a mass of dirt and rubbish, and that this led to a confusion in the verb; but it is doubtful whether this would account for the facts.]
I. In sense of Fr. fouler.
† 1. trans. To tread under foot, trample down.
| 13.. K. Alis. 2712 Mony gentil cors, Was y-foiled undur fet of hors. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 9440 Pinogras he feld of hors, And foiled al his cursed cors. 1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) v. ii. 363 They shall foyle and threste all the dampned togyder. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. (1808) IV. 877 The more they contended to suppresse him, the more (like the camomill being foiled and troden) his vertues rose vp. 1596 Danett tr. Comines iv. iii. 124 But the third [man] the Beare tooke and ouerthrew, and foiled vnder hir feete. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 69 King Richard..caused the ensignes of Leopold..to be puld downe, and foiled vnder foot. |
| fig. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 44 In veyn þu foilist þi flesch wiþ abstinens. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxxvii. 151 (Harl. MS.) A synner..enterithe in to holy chirche, and foylithe the comaundementes of god. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xviii. xxv, Worshyp in armes may neuer be foyled. |
2. Of animals: To trample or tread down; to tread into mud; esp. in Hunting, to run over or cross (the ground, scent, or track) with the effect of baffling the hounds. Also absol. of a deer (see quot. 1886); † refl. of a hound: To spoil his own scent.
| 1649 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1653) 25 Soak not thy Land too much, that Cattell treading, or Grazing upon it, foyl it not. 1651 Davenant Gondibert ii. xlv, Their [Doggs'] scent no North-east winde could e're deceave..nor Flocks that foyle the Ground. 1672–3 Marvell Reh. Transp. 72 A..dog having foil'd himself..with everything he meets. 1735 Somerville Chase ii. 174 In the same Round Persisting still, she'll foil the beaten Track. 1781 P. Beckford Hunting (1802) 279 If you suffer all your hounds to hunt on the line of him, they will foil the ground. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Foil, to trample, as meadow grass is said to be foiled when trampled or trodden down by hares. 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., Foil..the scent, or the ground, are said to be foiled when other deer than the hunted one have crossed the scent. Ibid., Foil..a deer is said to foil when he retraces his steps over the same track. |
| fig. a 1719 Addison (J.), I..put up such a variety of odd creatures..that they foil the scent of one another. |
† 3. To press hard upon, oppress. Obs. rare—1.
This sense, common in OF., appears to be required by the context, though the other texts read fylus, fylen.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10104 (Cott.) Þis world, my flesh, the fend als þat folus [Laud MS. foylyn] me wiþ fondyng fals to make me falle in fylthis fele. |
II. To overthrow, defeat, baffle.
4. To overthrow, defeat (an antagonist); to beat off, repulse, discomfit (an assailant or an attack). † In Wrestling: To throw, to inflict a ‘foil’ upon: see foil n.2 1. Also fig.
| 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV (an. 23) If they lacke actiuitie, euery creature be he neuer so base of birthe, shall foyle and ouerthrowe them. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. ii. 14 The Wrastler That did but lately foile the synowie Charles. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. ii. (1660) 102 To chase away and foil all passionate perturbations of the mind. 1648 Bp. Hall Breathings Devout Soul (1851) 175, I strive..but, sometimes, I am foiled; and go halting out of the field. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 273 Leader of those Armies bright, Which but th' Omnipotent none could have foyld. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 776 The Groom..watches with a Trip his Foe to foil. 1725 Pope Odyss. xx. 25 Not fiercer woes they fortitude could foil. 1736 West Let. in Gray's Poems (1775) 10 You have foiled him..at his own weapon. 1737 Burke Abridgm. Eng. Hist. Wks. 1842 II. 572 Suits..in every one of which he was sure to be foiled. 1808 J. Barlow Columb. iv. 247 Howard..foils the force of Spain. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 344 Meletus, who is easily foiled and mastered in the hands of the great dialectician. |
b. To outdo, surpass.
| a 1687 Waller Of a tree cut in paper 7 Fair hand!.. Strange, that your fingers should the pencil foil. 1786 Burns Lass o' Ballochmyle iii, Woman, Nature's darling child!.. Ev'n there her other works are foil'd. 1812 H. & J. Smith Rej. Addr. No. 10 Not chusing her charms should be foil'd By Lady Elizabeth Mugg. |
† c. intr. To suffer discomfiture. Obs.
| 1591 Greene Maiden's Dreame xlix, His toil He took, lest that the English state might foil. 1639 Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events To Rdr. a vj, There be mindes which foyle in reading a history of great length, humane patience being not of any great extent. |
5. To frustrate, render nugatory (an attempt or purpose); to parry (a blow); to baulk, disappoint (hopes, etc.); to baffle, frustrate the efforts of (a person).
App. developed from sense 4 with some influence of the notion of ‘foiling a scent’: see 2.
| a 1564 Becon Jewel of Joy in Catechism, &c. (1844) 426 Paul..had so many years been foiled with the..elvish expositions of certain doting doctors. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. III. 160 Lest his credite, foyled in his first attempt, in a second should be vtterly disgraced. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus i. 2 Faith shall be easily shaken, hope quickly foyled. 1621 Marquis of Buckingham in Fortesc. Papers 172 That whole businesse will be foyled. 1676 Wiseman Surgery v. v. 363 He had been foiled in the Cure, and had left it to Nature. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 4 Having long in miry ways been foiled. 1823 Scott Peveril xxxi, To be foiled in a gallant intrigue was to subject himself to the ridicule of his gay court. 1841 Borrow Zincali I. iv. ii. 301 He foiled the stroke of Chaléco. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxviii. (1856) 227 The project..was foiled for a time. 1871 Dixon Tower III. xii. 123 But here their wits were foiled. 1871 R. H. Hutton Ess. (1877) I. 19 The narrow anxiety..is apt to foil its own end. |
III. Influenced by foul a. and v.; cf. defoil, defoul v. and file v.
6. To foul, defile, pollute. In material or immaterial sense. Obs. exc. dial. (In some mod. dialects perh. a pronunciation of file.)
Quot. 1440 may belong to sense 3 or 4.
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 86 Þei preche not to profit of þe folk but..to foile [v.r. foulen] hem wiþ many synnes. c 1440 Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) i. xxxiv, A man that hath be moche foyled wyth worldly or flesshely synnes. a 1553 Udall Royster D. v. vi. (Arb.) 85 A man hath no honour to foile his handes on a woman. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. xi. 33 Ranc'rous enemies, that hourely toil Thy humble votarie with loathsome spot to foil. 1878 Cumbld. Gloss., Foil, to defile. |
† 7. To dishonour; esp. to deflower (a woman), to violate (chastity).
| c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxxvi. 143 (Harl. Ms.) Hast thowe foylid my dowter. a 1577 Gascoigne Wks. (1587) 300 Rather chose to die..Than filthie men should foile their chastitie. a 1592 Greene Mamillia Wks. (Grosart) II. 153 Hast thou..no more regard to thy solemne othe than to foile it with periurie? |
† 8. To cause filth, drop excrement; = file v.2 1 d.
| 1599 Hayward 1st Pt. Hen. IV, 77 They did nothing but feede and foyle in the summer of her sweete sun shine. 1616 ― Sanct. Troub. Soul i. §13 (1620) 285 Swine..doe nothing else but feede and foile. |
Hence foiled ppl. a., in senses of vb.; also of a horse: Injured. Also ˈfoiler, one who foils.
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 425 If he [a horse] be foiled on his forefeet by foundering or otherwise. 1700 Parker Six Philosoph. Ess. 2 O thou..divine Burnet ! thou foiler of all Philosophers. 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xxx, Till the foiled King..Shall bootless turn him home agen. 1869 Lonsdale Gloss., Folied-girse, grass much trodden. |
▪ VII. foil, v.2
(fɔɪl)
[f. foil n.5]
intr. To make a thrust at with a foil. In quot. transf.
| 1600 Rowlands Let. Humours Blood ix, In single cumbat, being hurt..As he was closely foyling at a Wench. |
▪ VIII. † foil, v.3 Obs.
[perh. ad. F. fouiller to grub up; cf. F. fouilleuse (Boiste), fouilleur (Littré), a kind of light plough.]
trans. To subject (land) to the third of the series of ploughing; formerly prescribed for preparing it for sowing. Hence ˈfoiling vbl. n.
| 1616 Surfl. & Markham Country Farme 555 At August you shall giue it the third ardor or earing, vvhich is called foyling..this ardor is..one of the best, especially for the destroying of weeds. 1620 Markham Farew. Husb. Pref. to Rdr., Sixe seuerall plowings, as fallowing in Ianuary and February, Stirring in Aprill and May, Foiling in Iuly and August [etc.]. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 326 To Foyl, that is, to fallow Land in the summer or autumn. |
▪ IX. foil, v.4
(fɔɪl)
[f. foil n.1]
1. trans. To apply foil or a foil to. † a. To spread over with a thin sheet of metal or other substance. See foil n.1 4. In quot. fig.
| 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. v. iii. §16 Foiling them [tales] ouer with a new colour of the Latine tongue. |
† b. To apply an amalgam of tinfoil and mercury to (glass, a mirror). See foil n.1 4 b. Obs.
| 1714 Fr. Bk. of Rates 83 Tin..to Foile Looking-Glasses. 1787 Gentl. Mag. Suppl. 1166/2 He could..foil mirrors. c 1790 J. Imison Sch. Art ii. 6 When this amalgam is used for foiling or silvering, let it first be strained through a linen rag. 1818 Blackw. Mag. III. 615/2 The difficulty of foiling glass to the various forms necessary. |
c. To back (a crystal) with a foil (foil n.1 5).
| 1887 Archæologia L. 110 A crystal (?) foiled to resemble sapphire. |
2. To set off by contrast. See foil n.1 6.
| 1856 Ruskin Mod. Paint. III. iv. iii. §14 Beauty..must be foiled by inferiority before its own power can be developed. |
3. Arch. To ornament with foils.
| 1835 R. Willis Archit. Mid. Ages v. 41 At the same time there came in the practice of Foiling arches; that is, of uniting a series of three or more by their bases, so as to form one. 1849 [see foiling vbl. n.2 b]. |
Hence ˈfoiler, one who foils.
| 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 171 Foilers of looking-glasses. |
▪ X. foil
obs. form of foal.