Word.ws English Dictionary

foil

/fɔɪl/

foil noun: a very thin sheet of metal. Also the clipping of hydrofoil.

Noun (1)

foil (countable and uncountable, plural foils)

  1. A very thin sheet of metal.
  2. (chiefly Euro English) A very thin sheet of plastic.
  3. (uncountable) Thin aluminium/aluminum (or, formerly, tin) used for wrapping food.
    • wrap the sandwich up in foil
  4. A thin layer of metal put between a jewel and its setting to make it seem more brilliant.
  5. (figuratively) In literature, theatre/theater, etc., a character who helps emphasize the traits of the main character and who usually acts as an opponent or antagonist, but can also serve as the sidekick of the protagonist.
    • Whereas the female invests heavily in the wake of conception, the male invests heavily prior to conception. Hitherto, the male has been regarded as the mere foil to the heavy investment in reproduction that renders the female the logjam (the limiting factor) in reproduction – reproduction overall...2019, Steve Paul Moxon, “The Sexes Serve to Purge Mutations by Selection on Males, Boosting the Function of Sex to Maintain Genomic Integrity]”, in New Male Studies, volume 8, number 1, pages 46–47...
    • As Puss comes to realize his legendary status is not a substitute for interpersonal connection, his interactions with Kitty and the therapy dog start to take on a surprising amount of weight, while Goldilocks serves as a well-realized foil who has more in common with Puss that is at first apparent.2022 December 20, Leigh Monson, “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish review: Antonio Banderas leads the best film yet in the Shrek franchise”, in AV Club, archived from the original on 14 Mar 2023
  6. (figuratively) Anything that acts by contrast to emphasise the characteristics of something.
    • As she a black silk cap on him begun / To set, for foil of his milk-white to serve.a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London...
    • Hector has also a foil to set regard1725-1726, William Broome, The Odyssey
  7. A very thin sword with a blunted (or foiled) tip.
    • Blunt as the fencer's foils, which hit, but hurt not.1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • Socrates contended with a foil against Demosthenes with a sword.1784-1810, William Mitford, History of Greece
  8. A thin, transparent plastic material on which marks are made and projected for the purposes of presentation. See transparency.
  9. A premium trading card with a glossy finish.
    • I personally would collect all the foils from Base Set before this one, but the market is what the market is.2016, Pojo's Unofficial Big Book of Pokémon, Triumph Books
  10. A stylized flower or leaf.

Verb (1)

foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)

  1. (transitive) To cover or wrap with foil.

Verb (2)

foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)

  1. To prevent (something) from being accomplished.
    • They foiled my plans.
  2. To prevent (someone) from accomplishing something.
    • I was foiled by my superior
    • And at the field fought before Bebriacum, ere the battailes joyned, tvvo Ægles had a conflict and bickered together in all their fights: and vvhen the one of them was foyled and overcome, a third came at the very inſtant from the ſunne riſing and chaſed the Victreſſe avvay.1606, Caius [i.e., Gaius] Suetonius Tranquillus, “The Historie of Flavius Vespatianus Augustus”, in Philêmon Holland, transl., The Historie of Twelve Cæsars Emperours of Rome. […], London: […]...
  3. To blunt; to dull; to spoil.
    • they foil the scent of one another.1711 August 10 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “MONDAY, July 31, 1711”, in The Spectator, number (please specify the issue number); republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a...
  4. (obsolete) To tread underfoot; to trample.
    • King Richard […] caused the ensigns of Leopold to be pulled down and foiled underfoot.1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes
    • Whom he did all to pieces breake and foyle, / In filthy durt, and left so in the loathely soyle.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XXXIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

Noun (2)

foil (plural foils)

  1. Failure when on the point of attainment; defeat; frustration; miscarriage.
    • Fame is no plant that grows on mortal foil1671, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC
    • Nor e'er was fate so near a foil.1685, John Dryden, Threnodia Augustalis
  2. One of the incorrect answers presented in a multiple-choice test.

Noun (3)

foil (plural foils)

  1. The track of an animal.
    • […]but after giving her a dodge, here's another b— follows me upon the foil.1749, Henry Fielding, chapter IV, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VII
    Synonyms:
    spoor

Verb (3)

foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)

  1. To expand a product of two or more algebraic expressions, typically binomials.

Verb (4)

foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)

  1. (obsolete) To defile; to soil.
    Synonyms:
    befile, stain, sully, assoil, beclart, bedaub, bedirty, imbrue (especially with blood), bedizen, befilth

Noun (4)

foil (plural foils)

  1. A small arc in the tracery of a window, etc.

Proper noun capitalized: FOIL

FOIL

  1. (mnemonic) An acronym for the algorithm for multiplying two binomials.

Verb (5) capitalized: FOIL

FOIL (third-person singular simple present FOILs, present participle FOILing, simple past and past participle FOILed)

  1. (transitive) To apply the FOIL algorithm to.

Also used as

foil is also the clipping of hydrofoil.

foil is also the clipping of aerofoil/airfoil.

foil meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Telugu

foil in Hindi

thin layer of metal put between a jewel and its setting to make it seem more brilliant
डाक ḍāk

foil in Marathi

फॉइल

foil in Bengali

ফয়েল

foil in Telugu

రేకు
More languagesFewer languages
foil in Malayalam
ഫോയിൽ, ഫോയൽ
foil in Punjabi
ਫੁਆਇਲ, ਫੋਇਲ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
foil in Gujarati
વરખ
foil in Odia
ଫଯ଼େଲ
foil in Assamese
ৰাংপতা raṅpota
foil in Nepali
पन्नी, फोइल, फोइल गर्न
foil in Tagalog
palara
foil in Arabic
فَشَّلَ faššala, أحبط ahbata, أفشل afshala
foil in Malay
kerajang, perada
foil in Indonesian
kertas logam, kerajang, kertas aluminium, perada
foil in Persian
فویل fuyl
foil in Thai
ทำลาย tamlaai
foil in Vietnamese
lá kim loại

Examples of foil in a sentence

  • her long locks that foil the painter's power1812, Lord Byron, “Canto I”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. A Romaunt, London: […] [F]or John Murray, […]; William Blackwood, Edinburgh...
  • Perhaps you think you love me now but it is only for an instant, and because you are foiled.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 28, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I...
  • First, former Toffee Mikel Arteta sent Walcott racing clear but instead of shooting he squared towards Ramsey, who was foiled by Tony Hibbert.2011 December 10, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 1 - 0 Everton”, in BBC Sport:
  • Many jihadist plots have been foiled and the security apparatus is getting better, overall, at pre-empting those who would do us ill.2017 August 20, “The Observer view on the attacks in Spain”, in The Observer:

All 40 example sentences with foil

Synonyms of foil

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of foil

Forms of foil

Noun
pluralfoils
Verb
third-person singular presentfoils
present participlefoiling
past participlefoiled
pastfoiled

Past tense of foil: foiled

Plural of foil: foils

Origin of foil

From Middle English foyle, from Middle French fueille, from Old French fueille (“plant leaf”), from Late Latin folia, the plural of folium, mistaken as a singular feminine. The literary sense is from the practice of backing a gem with metal foil to make it shine more brilliantly. Doublet of folio and folium, distantly also with phyllo and phyllon.

From Middle English foilen (“spoil a scent trail by crossing it”), from Old French fouler (“tread on, trample”), ultimately from Latin fullō (“to trample, full”).

From French foulis.

Words formed from foil

Phrases with foil

Words that rhyme with foil

18 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about foil

What does foil mean?
Foil means a very thin sheet of metal.
What is foil in Hindi?
Foil in Hindi is डाक (ḍāk). See Foil meaning in Hindi.
How do you use foil in a sentence?
her long locks that foil the painter's power
What part of speech is foil?
Foil can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce foil?
Foil is pronounced /fɔɪl/.
What is the plural of foil?
The plural of foil is foils.

Words near foil in the dictionary

  1. foids
  2. foie
  3. foie gras
  4. Foieni
  5. foies gras
  6. foil
  7. foil razor
  8. foil shaver
  9. foil stone
  10. foil stones
  11. foilable

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: foil (page history and authors); FOIL (page history and authors); foil (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); foil (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); foil (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); foil (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); foil (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); foil (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); foil (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); foil (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-foil.ogg.

Cite this entry: “foil.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/foil. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.