Poll E. Anna is the perfect foil, cockeyed optimist that she is, to her husband who is as negative and pessimistic as they come.foil 1(foil)
tr.v. foiled, foil·ing, foils
1. To prevent from being successful; thwart.
2. To obscure or confuse (a trail or scent) so as to evade pursuers.
n. Archaic
1. A repulse; a setback.
2. The trail or scent of an animal.
[Middle English foilen, to trample, defile, variant of filen, to defile; see file3.]
foil 2(foil)
n.
1. A thin, flexible leaf or sheet of metal: aluminum foil.
2. A thin layer of polished metal placed under a displayed gem to lend it brilliance.
3. One that by contrast underscores or enhances the distinctive characteristics of another: "I am resolved my husband shall not be a rival, but a foil to me" Charlotte Brontë.
4. The reflective metal coating on the back of a glass mirror.
5. Architecture A curvilinear, often lobelike figure or space formed between the cusps of intersecting arcs, found especially in Gothic tracery and Moorish ornament.
6.
a. An airfoil.
b. Nautical A hydrofoil.
tr.v. foiled, foil·ing, foils
1. To cover or back with foil.
2. To set off by contrast.
[Middle English, from Old French foille, from Latin folia, pl. of folium, leaf; see bhel-3 in Indo-European roots.]
foil 3(foil)
n.
1. A fencing sword having a usually circular guard and a thin, flexible four-sided blade with a button on the tip to prevent injury.
2. The art or sport of fencing with such a sword. Often used in the plural: a contest at foils.
[Origin unknown.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
mark cusses-foiled-again Bailey
