SPOIL, v.t. [L., to pull asunder, to tear, to strip, to peel.]

1. That which is taken from others by violence; particularly in war, the plunder taken from an enemy; pillage; booty.
2. That which is gained by strength or effort. Each science and each art his spoil. – Bentley.
3. That which is taken from another without license. Gentle gales / Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense / Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole / Their balmy spoils. – Milton.
4. The act or practice of plundering; robbery; waste. The man that hath not music in himself, / Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds, / Is fit for treason, stratagems and spoils. – Shak.
5. Corruption; cause of corruption. Villainous company hath been the spoil of me. – Shak.
6. The slough or cast skin of a serpent or other animal. – Bacon.

To practice plunder or robbery. Outlaws, which, lurking in woods, used to break forth to rob and spoil. – Spenser. To decay; to lose the valuable qualities; to be corrupted; as, fruit will soon spoil in warm weather. Grain will spoil if gathered when wet or moist.

1. To plunder; to strip by violence; to rob; with of; as, to spoil one of his goods or possessions. My sons their old unhappy sire despise, / Spoil'd of his kingdom, and depriv'd of his eyes. – Pope.
2. To seize by violence; to take by force; as, to spoil one's goods. This mount / With all his verdure spoil'd. – Milton.
3. [Sax. spillan.] To corrupt; to cause to decay and perish. Heat and moisture will soon spoil vegetable and animal substances.
4. To corrupt; to vitiate; to mar. Spiritual pride spoils many graces. – Taylor.
5. To ruin; to destroy. Our crops are sometimes spoiled by insects.
6. To render useless by injury; as, to spoil paper by wetting it.
7. To injure fatally; as, to spoil the eyes by reading.

1. To plunder] to strip by violence; to pillage; to rob; -- with of before the name of the thing taken; as, to spoil one of his goods or possession.
   
   
   "Ye shall spoil the Egyptians." Ex. iii. 22.

   My sons their old, unhappy sire despise,
   Spoiled of his kingdom, and deprived of eues. Pope.

2. To practice plunder or robbery.
   
   

   Outlaws, which, lurking in woods, used to break forth to rob and spoil. Spenser.

3. That which is taken from another by violence; especially, the plunder taken from an enemy; pillage; booty.
   
   

   Gentle gales,
   Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense
   Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole
   Those balmy spoils. Milton.

4. To seize by violence;; to take by force; to plunder.
   
   

   No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man. Mark iii. 27.

5. To lose the valuable qualities; to be corrupted; to decay; as, fruit will soon spoil in warm weather.
6. Public offices and their emoluments regarded as the peculiar property of a successful party or faction, to be bestowed for its own advantage; -- commonly in the plural; as to the victor belong the spoils.
   
   

   From a principle of gratitude I adhered to the coalition; my vote was counted in the day of battle, but I was overlooked in the division of the spoil. Gibbon.

7. To cause to decay and perish; to corrput; to vitiate; to mar.
   
   

   Spiritual pride spoils many graces. Jer. Taylor.

8. That which is gained by strength or effort.
   
   

   each science and each art his spoil. Bentley.

9. To render useless by injury; to injure fatally; to ruin; to destroy; as, to spoil paper; to have the crops spoiled by insects; to spoil the eyes by reading.
10. The act or practice of plundering; robbery; aste.
    
    

    The man that hath no music in himself,
    Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
    Is fit for treason, stratagems, and spoil. Shak.

11. Corruption; cause of corruption.
    
    
    [Archaic]

    Villainous company hath been the spoil of me. Shak.

12. The slough, or cast skin, of a serpent or other animal.
    
    
    [Obs.] Bacon.

    Spoil bank, a bank formed by the earth taken from an excavation, as of a canal. -- The spoils system, the theory or practice of regarding public and their emoluments as so much plunder to be distributed among their active partisans by those who are chosen to responsible offices of administration.