to foil
36
5.5
- verb
- /fɔɪl/
:
frustrar
- Her clever strategy helped to foil his attempts to sabotage the project.
- foil a plot
- foil plans
- foil an attempt
I felt that the work mocked me, foiled me, thwarted me.
- I felt that the work mocked me, foiled me, thwarted me.
- They always got to reveal their plan to the hero, which usually results in the plan being foiled.
- And you, as the audience, is relieved that this night crossing has not been foiled until sun comes up.
Examples
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Thus their aim of returning to the old status quo was foiled and Sparta now slumped further into decline.
-
A group of ninjas foiled an attempted counterfeiting operation.
-
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, changing circumstances can foil future plans.
Academic text (2017) -
I get away and you foil my next plan in an even more heroic way.
-
Such an approach might have helped foil the 9/11 attack.
Academic text (2008) -
These men waited for them to make their move then foiled a crime.
-
However, her arrest was foiled by the intervention of some of the town's "leading citizens."
Academic text (2004) -
Did you know that 85% of all kidnappings are foiled by the cops?
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Over the course of 10 years, American authorities foiled more than two dozen al-Qaeda plots.
Academic text (2011) -
Martin Hortensius had tried to observe the transit, but was foiled by bad weather.
Academic text (2006)
Synonyms
208
5.9
To stop someone's plans or make them fail
87
7.4
To stop someone from doing what they want
80
2.8
To make something less good or enjoyable
35
3.6
Stop someone from doing something they planned to do
3
6.1
To stop someone's plans or efforts from succeeding
1
5.2
Cause a plan to fail or stop moving forward
1
8.1
To stop a plan or action from happening
Stop someone's plans or efforts from succeeding
To stop someone on purpose from doing what they planned
Act against something to stop or slow it
Antonyms
Compounds
How Thoroughly
Surface Forms
Etymology
Foil meaning 'to prevent someone's plans' likely grew from an old sense of 'defeat', and a helpful image is a fencing foil used to block an attack; that's why to foil a plan is to stop it from succeeding.