You searched for: “foils
foil (s), foils (pl) (nouns)
1. Metal that has been hammered or rolled into a thin flexible sheet and which is used primarily for covering or wrapping food: "She wrapped a piece of cake in aluminum foil so she could eat it later at work."

"A thin leaf of metal was put under the precious stone so it would increase the jewel's brilliance."

3. In architecture, a leaf-shaped curve formed by the intersecting point of the small arcs or foliations decorating the internal curves of an arch or circle and which usually occurs in groups of three or more in the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window: "The foils or foilations of the small arcs that decorated the internal curves of slender vertical piers and the counterbalancing arches gave the appearance of a trifoliate leaf."
4. Etymology: "thin sheet of metal" from early 14th century; from Old French fueille, "leaf"; from Latin folia, "leaves" and folium, "leaf".
This entry is located in the following unit: folio-, foli-, folii- (page 2)
Word Entries at Get Words: “foils
foil (verb), foils; foiled; foiling
1. To prevent a person from doing something or achieving an objective: The sheriff foiled the robber who was about to hold up the local bank.
2. To keep something from happening or from being successful: Slipping and falling down the stairs is foiling Sally's dreams of becoming a dancer because she severely injured the joints in her knees.
To prevent or to keep someone from being successful when doing something.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group F (page 4)
To keep someone from being successful by frustrating or preventing him or her from doing something. (1)