Foil

·noun The track or trail of an Animal.

II. Foil ·vt To tread under foot; to Trample.

III. Foil ·vt To Defile; to Soil.

IV. Foil ·noun A leaf or very thin sheet of metal; as, brass foil; tin foil; gold foil.

V. Foil ·noun Failure of success when on the point of attainment; defeat; frustration; miscarriage.

VI. Foil ·noun A thin coat of tin, with quicksilver, laid on the back of a looking-glass, to cause reflection.

VII. Foil ·noun Anything that serves by contrast of color or quality to adorn or set off another thing to advantage.

VIII. Foil ·noun A blunt weapon used in fencing, resembling a smallsword in the main, but usually lighter and having a button at the point.

IX. Foil ·vt To Blunt; to Dull; to Spoil; as, to foil the scent in chase.

X. Foil ·noun A thin leaf of sheet copper silvered and burnished, and afterwards coated with transparent colors mixed with isinglass;

— employed by jewelers to give color or brilliancy to pastes and inferior stones.

XI. Foil ·vt To render (an effort or attempt) vain or nugatory; to Baffle; to Outwit; to Balk; to Frustrate; to Defeat.

XII. Foil ·noun The space between the cusps in Gothic architecture; a rounded or leaflike ornament, in windows, niches, ·etc. A group of foils is called trefoil, quatrefoil, quinquefoil, ·etc., according to the number of arcs of which it is composed.