資料來源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Foil \Foil\, n.
1. Failure of success when on the point of attainment;
defeat; frustration; miscarriage. --Milton.
Nor e'er was fate so near a foil. --Dryden.
2. A blunt weapon used in fencing, resembling a smallsword in
the main, but usually lighter and having a button at the
point.
Blunt as the fencer's foils, which hit, but hurt
not. --Shak.
Isocrates contended with a foil against Demosthenes
with a word. --Mitford.
3. The track or trail of an animal.
{To run a foil},to lead astray; to puzzle; -- alluding to the
habits of some animals of running back over the same track
to mislead their pursuers. --Brewer.