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# spoilt

«spoilt» in Mova's school dictionary: **A spoilt child has been given everything they want, so…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (spoilt — US usually spoiled); verb form: past tense and past participle of «spoil» (spoil, spoils, spoilt/spoiled, spoiling)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A spoilt child has been given everything they want, so they behave badly when they do not get their way. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spoilt/#m1)

2) Spoilt food has gone bad and is not safe to eat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spoilt/#m2)

3) Spoilt means damaged or ruined: a spoilt picture, a spoilt day. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spoilt/#m3)

4) A spoilt vote or ballot paper is filled in wrongly, so it is not counted (UK). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spoilt/#m4)

5) «Spoilt for choice» means there are so many good choices that it is hard to pick one. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spoilt/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

In stories a spoilt prince or child learns a lesson; in everyday life spoilt food must be thrown away (safety). In maths problems, spoilt items are taken away from the total. Phrases: a spoilt brat, spoilt rotten, spoilt for choice, spoilt milk.

### examples

- The spoilt boy screamed when he didn't get the biggest present. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spoilt/#x1)
- The milk was spoilt, so we poured it away. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spoilt/#x2)
- The rain spoilt our picnic. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spoilt/#x3)
- Gran spoils the grandchildren rotten. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spoilt/#x4)
- At the sweet shop we were spoilt for choice. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spoilt/#x5)
- Of 40 apples, 6 were spoilt, so 34 were good. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spoilt/#x6)
- His drawing was spoilt by a big ink blot. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spoilt/#x7)
- "But your bow is spoilt," said the old poet. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spoilt/#x8)

### note

«Spoilt» is the usual UK, Irish, Australian and NZ form; Americans usually say «spoiled». «Spoilt brat» is rude. In maths, spoilt things are usually subtracted: 40 − 6 = 34 good ones. Do not mix up with «spilt» (past of spill).

### In the corpora

- [«Spoilt only child» is a stereotype; many only children do plenty of chores.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/498-the-only-child-a-quiet-house/35/)
- [Having a lot is not the same as being spoilt; being kind and sharing is what matters.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/499-the-only-child-all-the-attention-and-wanting-a-sibling/40/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «spoilt» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spoilt/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.