Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One that spoils, especially.
  • noun A candidate for office whose chances of winning are slight but who may get enough votes to prevent one of the leading candidates from winning.
  • noun Sports A competitor that has no chance of winning or qualifying (as for a playoff) but defeats and thereby prevents another from doing so.
  • noun A published piece of information that divulges a surprise, such as a plot twist in a movie.
  • noun One who seizes spoils or booty.
  • noun A long, narrow hinged plate on the upper surface of an airplane wing that reduces lift and increases drag when raised.
  • noun An air deflector mounted usually at the rear of an automobile to reduce lift at high speeds.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who or that which spoils.
  • noun One who or that which impairs, mars, or decays.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who spoils; a plunderer; a pillager; a robber; a despoiler.
  • noun One who corrupts, mars, or renders useless.
  • noun (Aeronautics) A device attached to the wing of an airplane or other airfoil, which breaks the smooth flow of air during flight and decreases the lift of the airfoil; -- used to control the attitude of the airplane during banking or descent.
  • noun A device attached to a car to decrease lift and increase traction, usually shaped as a flat surface and attached above the rear of the car, and working on the same principal as the aircraft spoiler{3}.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who spoils; a plunderer; a pillager; a robber; a despoiler.
  • noun One who corrupts, mars, or renders useless.
  • noun A document, review or comment that discloses the ending or some key surprise, or twist in a story.
  • noun aeronautics A device to reduce lift.
  • noun automotive A device to reduce lift and increase downforce
  • noun US, sports An individual (or organisation etc.), unable to win themselves, who spoils the chances of another's victory.
  • noun trading card games A comprehensive list of objects and their characteristics.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a candidate with no chance of winning but who may draw enough votes to prevent one of the leading candidates from winning
  • noun a hinged airfoil on the upper surface of an aircraft wing that is raised to reduce lift and increase drag
  • noun someone who pampers or spoils by excessive indulgence
  • noun someone who takes spoils or plunder (as in war)
  • noun an airfoil mounted on the rear of a car to reduce lift at high speeds

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From spoil +‎ -er.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word spoiler.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Aircraft: "destroyer of lift". Otherwise: "threatener of hopes"...and, of course, whatever else Life via human language has floated out there for its purposes...

    Your turn:______.

    June 26, 2007

  • Not. Sure. I. Understand.

    My turn? Um...

        Movies: "slayer of suspense"

        Politics: "upsetter of elections"

        Food: "chunker of milk"

    June 26, 2007