Spoiler
spoil·er ( P ) Pronunciation Key (spoi'ler)
n.
1. One who seizes spoils or booty.
2. Something that causes spoilage.
3.1 A long, narrow hinged plate on the upper surface of an airplane wing that reduces lift and increases drag when raised.
3.2 An air deflector mounted usually at the rear of an automobile to reduce lift at high speeds.
4. A candidate for office whose chances of winning are slight but who may get enough votes to prevent one of the leading candidates from winning.
5. A post to a newsgroup that divulges information intended to be a surprise, such as a plot twist in a movie.
spoiler
n 1: a candidate with no chance of winning but who may draw enough votes to prevent one of the leading candidates from winning 2: someone who takes spoils or plunder (as in war) [syn: plunderer, pillager, looter, despoiler, raider, freebooter] 3: someone who pampers or spoils by excessive indulgence [syn: pamperer, coddler, mollycoddler] 4: an airfoil mounted on the rear of a car to reduce lift at high speeds 5: a hinged airfoil on the upper surface of an aircraft wing that is raised to reduce lift and increase drag
spoiler
1. A remark which reveals important plot elements
from books or movies, thus denying the reader (of the article)
the proper suspense when reading the book or watching the
movie.
2. Any remark which telegraphs the solution of a problem or
puzzle, thus denying the reader the pleasure of working out
the correct answer (see also interesting). Either sense
readily forms compounds like "total spoiler", "quasi-spoiler"
and even "pseudo-spoiler".
By convention, Usenet news articles which are spoilers in
either sense should contain the word "spoiler" in the Subject:
line, or guarantee via various tricks that the answer appears
only after several screens-full of warning, or conceal the
sensitive information via rot13, or some combination of
these techniques.
spoiler
n. [Usenet] 1. A remark which reveals important plot
elements from books or movies, thus denying the reader (of the
article) the proper suspense when reading the book or watching the
movie. 2. Any remark which telegraphs the solution of a problem or
puzzle, thus denying the reader the pleasure of working out the
correct answer (see also interesting). Either sense readily forms
compounds like `total spoiler', `quasi-spoiler' and even
`pseudo-spoiler'.
By convention, articles which are spoilers in either sense should
contain the word `spoiler' in the Subject: line, or guarantee via
various tricks that the answer appears only after several
screens-full of warning, or conceal the sensitive information via
rot13, spoiler space or some combination of these techniques.
