Words / C1

FOYL/fɔɪl/

To foil a plan is to stop it succeeding: foil a leak, foil a robbery. Prevent is everyday and wider; thwart is a close formal twin; a foil (noun) is also thin metal, or a contrast that makes another person clearer. Do not treat a poster as the intervention that stopped the leak.

Meaning

To prevent a plan or crime from succeeding.

Examples

• “A named invigilator foiled the leak; a poster about “integrity” did not.”
• “Stop is everyday. Thwart is the close twin. Block is physical. Aluminium foil is the kitchen lookalike. A person on the door is a measure. A slogan is paper. Put a name on the door.”

Good to know

Stop a plan from working. Everyday: prevent. Close: thwart. Lookalike noun: kitchen foil; a literary contrast. A poster ≠ a person.

Near in meaning

thwart

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