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Glite Dictionary
to spoil for

to spoil for

3 7.2
Want very much to start a fight or argument
  • phrasal verb
  • /spɔɪl fɔr/
  • Informal
translation icon : estar buscando
  • She's been spoiling for a fight since 91.
  • spoiling for a fight

Examples

  • You're spoiling for a fight with a man who outweighs you.

    Legends of the Fall (1994)

  • The very first day in September when we got off Frankie's boat, you were spoiling for a fight.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • - Oh, dear old dad, always spoiling for a fight.

    Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 (2001)

  • I thought both sides were spoiling for a fight.

    Academic text (1994)

  • In both cases, people were spoiling for a fight.

    Blog text (29)

  • - I'm spoiling for a fight.

    Sideshow (2000)

  • Cam was spoiling for a fight.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • He's absolutely spoiling for a fight.

    Gosford Park (2001)

  • The northerners were spoiling for a fight, and almost certainly would have provoked one, were it not for the intervention of agency warriors led by Young Man Afraid of His Horse and the aforementioned Sitting Bull.

    Academic text (2002)

  • He was spoiling for a fight after losing that last match.

Synonyms

to lust
vsto spoil for
  • NSFW
30 6.3

To want something very strongly, often something forbidden

aims at provoking a fight rather than craving forbidden pleasures
to itch
vsto spoil for
  • Informal
9 2.7

To want very much to do something right away

aims specifically at starting a fight or argument

Antonyms

to avoid
∞ 1.0

To stay away from something or not do it to stop something bad from happening

to refrain
87 4.2

Choose not to do something you want to do

How Eager

to spoil for
  • Informal
3 7.2
to want
∞ 1.0
to feel like
∞ 3.0

Surface Forms

spoil for infinitive
spoiled for past
spoiled for past participle
spoiling for present participle
spoils for third person singular

Morphology

spoil + for

The sense 'to have a strong desire or urge (especially to start a fight)' cannot be derived from the literal meanings of 'spoil' (commonly 'to indulge' or 'to ruin') plus the preposition 'for'. The phrase is idiomatic and its target-meaning (eagerness/hostility) is not compositionally predictable, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituents would likely not infer it.

Etymology

Spoil for comes from the idea of spoil meaning 'to ruin': picture someone wanting to ruin a quiet moment by starting a fight, so they are 'spoiling for' trouble. That's why it now means 'to want strongly' or 'to be eager', especially 'to start an argument or fight'.