foin

plural foins

1. archaicA thrust.

   They move their hands, steadfast their feet remain, / Nor blow nor foin they struck or thrust in vain.

   1600, Edward Fairfax (translator), Jerusalem Delivered, Tasso, XII, lv

   1 more example

   And there kyng Arthur smote syr mordred vnder the shelde wyth a foyne of his spere throughoute the body more than a fadom. "And there King Arthur smote Sir Mordred under the shield, with a foin of his spear, throughout the body, more than a fathom."

   1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XXI, Chapter iiij, leaf 424r

present singular third person foins · participle present foining · participle past foined · past foined

1. archaicTo thrust with a sword; to stab at.

   He stroke, he soust, he foynd, he hewd, he lasht,

   1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 25

   3 more examples

   And then he flue on hir as he were wood, / And on hir breeche did hack and foyne a-good.

   1593, Thomas Nashe, The Choice of Valentines, lines 140-141

   They lash, they foin, they pass, they strive to bore / Their corselets, and the thinnest parts explore.

   1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

   These Fastulfrs and Falsts could drink as well as they could foin or fight, and this has also been the case with me.

   1976, Robert Nye, Falstaff

   Synonyms: jab, run through, chef, chib, ching, chive, enthrill, gore

2. archaicTo prick; to sting.

plural foins

1. The beech marten (Martes foina, syn. Mustela foina).
2. A kind of fur, black at the top on a whitish ground, taken from the ferret or weasel of the same name.

   He came to the stake in a fair black gown furred and faced with foins.

   1642, Thomas Fuller, The Holy State, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel for John Williams, […], →OCLC