FOE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does foe mean? 

• FOE (noun)
  The noun FOE has 2 senses:

1. an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)

2. a personal enemy

  Familiarity information: FOE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FOE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

enemy; foe; foeman; opposition

Context example:

a soldier must be prepared to kill his enemies

Hypernyms ("foe" is a kind of...):

adversary; antagonist; opponent; opposer; resister (someone who offers opposition)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foe"):

besieger (an enemy who lays siege to your position)

Holonyms ("foe" is a member of...):

enemy (an opposing military force)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A personal enemy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

enemy; foe

Context example:

they had been political foes for years

Hypernyms ("foe" is a kind of...):

challenger; competition; competitor; contender; rival (the contestant you hope to defeat)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foe"):

mortal enemy (an enemy who wants to kill you)

Antonym:

friend (an associate who provides cooperation or assistance)

 Context examples 

A new study suggests that T cells, which help the body’s immune system recognize friend from foe, may play an important role in Parkinson’s disease.

(Immune system may mount an attack in Parkinson’s disease, National Institutes of Health)

The great spider was lying asleep when the Lion found him, and it looked so ugly that its foe turned up his nose in disgust.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

From pride, ignorance, or fashion, our foes are almost as many as our readers.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

He had learned well the law of club and fang, and he never forewent an advantage or drew back from a foe he had started on the way to Death.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Nay, Henry might stand between me and the intrusion of my foe.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Once, ere he had ridden far, he heard behind him three deep, sullen shouts, which told him that his comrades had set their faces to the foe once more.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Besides, he added, not unkindly, as he laid his hand upon the shoulder of the prostrate man, it is better than to fall before some ignoble foe.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The mass swung clear of the ladder, the men still clinging to their escaping foe.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He rushed in and snapped and slashed on the instant, without notice, before his foe could prepare to meet him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Your Missis has not been my friend: she has been my foe.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)