foil 
2. A metallic substance formed into very thin 
sheets by rolling and hammering: as, gold, tin, 
or Iead/oi7. Gold foil is beaten out to the utmost tc- 
nuity. Tin foil has a slight alluy of copper, lead, etc. 
Dutch foil is made by rolling a plate of copper coated with 
silver into thia sheets, polishing the silver surface, var- 
nishing it, and then laying on a coat of transparent color 
mixed with isinglass. A variegated Japanese foil is made 
by combining thin sheets of ditferent metals in a single 
plate, which is so treated that the ditferent metals or 
alloys show in the completed sheet like the lines or figures 
on a Damascus blade. These sheets are extremely flexible, 
and can be stamped, engraved, etc., for decorative use. 
Whose wals were high, but nothing strong nor thick, 
And golden/oile all over them displaid. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. ill. 4. 
Gold in the form of foil, or in that condition known as 
sponge gold, tin in the form of foil, and amalgams . . . 
are the principal material in use as stoppings [for teeth]. 
Encyc. Brit., VII. 98. 
3. In jewelry, a thin leaf of metal placed under 
a precious stone to change its color, or to give 
it more color in case of its being inf ei ior in that 
respect, or to give it additional luster by the 
reflection of light from the surface of the metal. 
Much old jewelry is made with thin and poor stones, to 
which effect is given by this means. 
The stone had need to be rich that is set without foil. 
Bacon, Ceremonies and Respects (ed. 1887). 
So diamonds owe a lustre to their foil. Pope. 
4. Leaf-metal placed behind translucent en- 
amel for the same purpose as that used for pre- 
cious stones. (See def. 3.) In this sense often 
called paillon (which see). Hence 5. Any- 
thing of a different color or of different quali- 
ties which serves to adorn or set off another 
thing to advantage; that which, by compari- 
son or contrast, sets off or shows more con- 
spicuously the superiority of something else. 
This brilliant is so spotless and so bright, 
He needs no /'(, but shines by his own proper light. 
Dryden, Character of a Good Parson, 1. 140. 
The general good sense and worthiness of his character 
make his friends observe these little singularities as fails 
that rather set oil 1 than blemish his good qualities. 
Addison, Sir Roger at Church. 
6. An amalgam of tin with quicksilver laid on 
one side of a sheet of glass to produce a reflect- 
ing surface in making a mirror. 
Feuille [.], . . . the foyle of precious stones, or look- 
ing-glasses ; and hence, a grace, beautie, or glosse given 
unto. Cotgrave. 
I now begin to see my vanity 
.Shine in this glass, reflected by the foil. 
B. Jonson, Staple of News, v. 1. 
7. In medieval arch., a small arc in the tracery 
of a window, panel, etc., which is said to be tre- 
foiled, quatrefoiled, 
cinquefoiled, multi- 
foiled, etc., accord- 
ing to the number of 
arcs which it con- 
tains. -Foil arch. See 
a rch 1, 2. 
foil 2 (foil), r. t. 
[Early mod. E. also 
foyle; < ME. foilen, 
foylen, more com- 
monly in comp. de- 
foilen, defoylen (with 
irreg. oi, oy, for reg. 
ou), generally de- 
foulen, trample up- 
on, tread under foot, 
fig. subdue, oppress 
(whence in part the 
mod. sense 'baffle, 
frustrate,' but see 
to run the foil, un- 
der /o2, n .), < OF. 
fouler* foleT. follcr. Foils, from Amiens Cathedral. 
<-. 1~ _ l, France; 13* century, /, trefoil; , 
trample upon, sub- quatrefoii: 
due, defeat, etc., in 
anotherform/oirffer, full (cloth) (mod. P. fouler, 
trample upon, etc., sprain, full (cloth), etc.), in 
comp. defoler, defuler, deffonler (= Pr. defolar), 
also afoler, trample upon, tread down, etc., < 
ML. fullare (also spelled folare, after the OP. 
form), full cloth, namely by trampling or beat- 
ing, < li.fulto(n-), a fuller: see fuller 1 md/UP.] 
If. To trample upon; tread under foot. 
Whom he did all to peeces breake, and foyle 
In filthy durt, and left so in the loathely soyle. 
Spenser, F. Q., V. xi. 33. 
King Richard, commonly called Richard Cosur de Lyon, 
not brooking so proud an indignity, caused the ensigns of 
Leopold to be pul'd down and foiled under foot. 
Knolles, Hist. Turks. 
2. To blunt; dull; deaden: as, to /o# the scent 
in a chase. 
When light- winged toys 
Of feathered Cupid foil, with wanton dulness, 
My speculative and offlced instruments. 
Shak., Othello, i. 3 (ed. Collier). 
2300 
3. To frustrate ; baffle ; mislead ; render vain 
or nugatory, as an effort or attempt; thwart; 
balk: as, the enemy was foiled in his attempt 
to pass the river. 
This your courtesy 
Foifd me a second. Font, Fancies, Iv. 1. 
And by a mortal man at length am foil'd. 
Dryden, -Uneid, i. 
His superior craft enabled him to/oi7 every attempt of 
his enemies. Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 1. 
The plot was a good plot, but the admiral of France was 
destined to be foiled by an old woman. 
Motley, Dutch Republic, I. 168. 
= Syn. 3. Thwart, Baffle, etc. See frustrate. 
foil 2 (foil), . [Early mod. E. also foyle; < ME. 
foyle; </WP, I] 1. The track or trail of game 
when pursued. 
Sometimes, all Day, we hunt the tedious /'"//. 
Congreve, tr. of Ovid's Art of Love. 
2f. Defeat; frustration; failure when on the 
point of achievement. 
Never had the Turkish Emperor 
So great a/oii bv any foreign foe. 
Marlowe, Tamburlaiue, I., ill. 3. 
Death never won a stake with greater toll, 
Nor e'er was fate so near nfoil. Dryden. 
3. In wrestling, a partial fall ; a fall not com- 
plete according to the rules. 
If he be only indangered, and makes a narrow escape, 
it is called A foyle. 
R. Carew, quoted in Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 150. 
Look, how many /otto go to a fair fall, so many excuses 
to a full lie. Fletcher and Rowley, Maid in the Mill, iv. 1. 
And three indirect insinuations will go as far In law 
towards giving a downright lie as three foil* will go to- 
wards a fall in wrestling. 
Dryden, Duchess of York's Paper Defended. 
To put to (the) folll, to mar ; blemish. 
For several virtues 
Have I lik'd several women ; never any 
With so full soul, but some defect in her 
Did quarrel with the noblest grace she ow'd, 
And put it to the fail. Mm*., Tempest, lii. 1. 
For 1 1 11 n iv i milks, and mars (say they), and coyne it keepes 
the coyle, 
It binds the beare, it rules the rost, it putts all things to 
foyle. Drant, tr. of Horace's Satires, i. 
To run the foil, in hunting, to run over the same track 
a second time in order to put the hounds at fault : said 
of game. 
No hare when hardly put to it by the hounds, and run- 
ning foil, makes more doublings and redoublings than the 
fetcht compass, circuits, turns, and returns in this their 
intricate peregrination. Fuller, Pisgah Sight, IV. iii. 6. 
To take the foil*, to accept discomfiture or defeat. Da- 
eies. 
Sundrie of theyme then of the common counsell of the 
Citie, standiuge upon theire reputation, and myndynge 
not to take the foyle, stande to meaneteane and defende 
theyre cause. English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 304. 
Bestir thee, Jaques, take not now the foil, 
Lest thou didst lose what foretime thou didst gain. 
Greene, Friar Bacon, p. 168. 
foil 3 (foil), n. [Prob. < foil*, ., 2, in the lit. 
sense 'blunt'; but examples of this sense are 
wanting.] A bated or blunted sword used in 
fencing-practice and friendly contests; now, 
usually, an implement used in fencing-schools, 
for small-sword practice only, it has a blade of 
small quadrangular section, a button on the point, and 
for the guard two open lunettes or loops, which it is com- 
mon to reinforce by ' ' shells " of thick leather. The French 
fencing-masters and amateurs distinguish between the 
flturet or light foil and the epee d'escrime, which is like 
the dueling-sword or epie de cmnbat, except in having a 
buttoned point, and is therefore much heavier than the 
fleuret. See fleuret. 
Bene. Thy wit is as quick as the greyhound's mouth, 
it catches. 
Marg. And yours as blunt as the fencer's foils, which 
hit, but hurt not Shak., Much Ado, v. 2. 
Against Friends at first with Foils we fence. 
Congreve, Pyrrhus, Prol. 
foi! 4 t (foil), r. t. [ME. foilen, foylen, a rare and 
improp. form (by confusion with foilfn, foylen, 
foift, q. v.) of f oiden, fylen, defile (cf. ME. 
defoilen for defoulen, defylen, defile) : see file 2 , 
foul 1 , v., and defile 1 , defoul 1 .} To defile: same 
tollable' (foi'la-bl), a. [</oiP + -able.} Ca- 
pable of being foiled. 
foil-carrier (foil'kar'i-er), n. A kind of dental 
pliers for holding gold foil or other filling for 
teeth. 
foiled (foild), a. [</oiJi + -ecP.} In medieval 
arc*., having foils: as, a foiled [arch. 
foiler (foi'ler), . One who foils or frustrates ; 
one who thwarts or baffles. 
foiling 1 (fpi'ling), n. [< foil* + -ing 1 .} In 
arch., a foil. 
foiling 2 (f oi'ling), n. [Verbal n. of foil?, tread.] 
In hunting, the slight mark of a passing deer 
on the grass. 
foist 
foil-Stone (foil'ston), H. An imitation jewel. 
foinH (foin), v. [Early mod. E. also foyne : < 
ME. foynen (once var. funen), thrust at (with 
a weapon), rarely tr., pierce, prob. < OF. foine, 
fni/iic, foene, foiuinc, fouine, F. fouine, a pitch- 
fork, a fish-spear (> F. dial, fouincr, catch 
fish with a spear), prob. < L. fuscma, a three- 
pronged spear, a trident (Littre) ; hardly < L. 
*fodina, lit. 'digger' ? (fodina occurs only in 
sense of a pit, mine, ' digging '), < fodere, dig 
(Scheler). The particular use of foin in fen- 
cing may be due m part to F. dial, foindre, for 
F. feindre, feign : see feign, feint.} I. intrans. 
To thrust with a weapon; push, as in fencing; 
let drive. 
He hewd and In-lit . and foijnd, and thondred blowes. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. v. 9. 
Than they assembled togyder in al partes, and began to 
foyne with speares and stryke with axes and swordes. 
Berners, tr. of Froissart. 
Rogero never foynd, and seldom strake 
But flatllng. 
Sir J. Harington, tr. of Ariosto, xl. 78. 
II. trans. To thrust through with a weapon ; 
pierce ; stab. 
He egerlyche to Charlis ran 
And hente hym by the nekke than, 
Andfoynde hym with that knyf. 
Sir Ferumbras, 1. 5640. 
foin't (foin), n. [Early mod. E. also foyne; < 
foin 1 , v.} A thrust ; a push. 
At hand strokes they used not swords, but pollaxes ; 
which be mortal as well in sharpness as in weight, both 
tarfoynet and down strokes. 
Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), ii. 184. 
It shall not lie lawfull to the challengers, nor to the 
answearers, with the bastard sword to give or offer any 
foyne to his match. 
Quoted in Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 15. 
foin 2 t (foin), n. [< ME. foyn, foyne, < OF. 
foine, foyne, faine,fayne, F. fouine = Pr. faina, 
mod. Pr. faguino, fahino = Cat. fagina = It. 
faina (cf. Sp. fuina = Pg. fuinha = It. dial. 
fuina, foina, foin ; < F.), a polecat, < ML. fa- 
gina, a marten, ong. applied to the beech-mar- 
ten (Mustela foina), < L. faginus, fern, fagina, 
of the beech, < fagus, the beech, = E. beech : 
see Fagus and beech 1 .} 1 . A name of the beech- 
marten, Mustela foina. 2. The dressed fur of 
the same animal. 
A cote hath he furred 
With fojtns or with flchewes. 
Piers Plowman's Crede (E. E. T. S.), 1. 295. 
Ermine, faint, sables, martin, badger, bear. 
Middleton, Triumphs of Love and Antiquity. 
foina (foi'nS), . [NL.: see fain?.} 1. The 
technical specific name of the beech-marten, 
Mustela foina. 2. [cop.] A generic name of 
the same. 
foineryt (foi'ner-i), . [< foin 1 + -ery.} In 
fencing, the act of making foins or thrusts with 
the foil ; fencing ; sword-play. Marston. 
foiningt (foi'ning), n. [ME. foynyng; verbal 
n. of foin 1 , r.] A thrusting, as with spear or 
sword; foinery. 
ffell was the fight with foynyng of speires, 
Mallyng thurgh metall maynly with hondes. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. .), 1. 9691. 
York . . . was . . . famous ... as the fli'st to intro- 
duce the custom otfoining or thrusting with the rapier in 
single combats. . . . Before his day, it had been custom- 
ary among the English to fight with sword and shield. 
Motley, United Netherlands, II. 156. 
foininglyt (foi'ning-li), adv. In a pushing or 
thrusting manner. Johnson. 
foining-SWOrdt (foi'ning-sord), n. A sword 
used for thrusting. See estoc, tuck?, foin 1 , fen- 
cing. 
foison (foi'zon), n. [Early mod. E. alsofoyson, 
foizon; Se. &lsofissen, fizzen;< ME. foison, foi- 
soun, fuson, < OF. foison, foyson, fuison, fason, 
F. foison = Pr. foyso, abundance, profusion, < 
L. fusio(n-), an outpouring, effusion, < fusus, 
pp. of fundere, pour: see fusion, which is a 
doublet of foison.} I. Plenty; abundance. 
[Archaic.] 
It yaf so gret/oion of water that the brooke ran down 
the launde, that was right feire and del[e]ctaMe. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 150. 
For he has a perennial foison of sappiness. 
Lowell, Fable for Critics. 
2f. Strength; ability. 
The paiens [heathen] were so ferd, thei myght haf no foy- 
son. 
Rob.of Brunne,tr. of Langtoft's Chron. (ed. Hearne), p. 17. 
foisonlesst (foi'zon-les), a. [So. fizzenless ; < foi- 
son + -less.} Weak ; feeble ; pithless. Scott. 
foist 1 (foist, formerly also fist), n. [A var. of 
fist 2 .} If. A breaking wind without noise: 
same &Bfi3&, 1. 2. A puffball. [Prov. Eng.] 
