spoil for
spoil for (something)
To be particularly eager or enthusiastic for something, especially a fight, disagreement, or conflict. Tom seems to spoil for a fight the moment he's in the same room as me. I just don't know what it is about me that makes him so antagonistic. We've done everything we can to reach a reasonable compromise with the other party, but they have been spoiling for an argument at every turn.
See also: spoil
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
spoil for
Be eager for, as in He's just spoiling for a fight. This idiom nearly always refers to some kind of altercation. It may allude to spoil in the sense of "deteriorate over a period of time." [Mid-1800s]
See also: spoil
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
spoil for
v.
To be eager for something, especially a fight: The drunk soccer players at the bar were spoiling for a fight.
See also: spoil
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
- spoil for (something)
- spoiling for a fight
- could fight a circle-saw
- could fight a circle-saw (and it a runnin')
- fight
- fight (one's way) through
- fight through
- fight for
- fight for (someone or something)
- it takes two to make a quarrel