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Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

What does " spoil their perfection by use." mean?

By the 1690s Chaloner had become:

... the most accomplished counterfeiter in the kingdom, .... so nice an artist of dies that it galled him to spoil their perfection by use.

—(Sir John Craig - Newton at the mint. (1946))[8][9][7]
  

Top answer

Anonymous to spoil their perfection by use. to spoil how perfect the dies were by using them die: a tool that is used for cutting, shaping, or stamping a material or an object CJ

— CalifJim

  • Anonymous to spoil their perfection by use.
  • to spoil how perfect the dies were by using them die: a tool that is used for cutting, shaping, or stamping a material or an object CJ
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7 Answers
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Anonymousto spoil their perfection by use.
to spoil how perfect the dies were by using them

die: a tool that is used for cutting, shaping, or stamping a material or an object

CJ
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Does "spoil" mean "damage" here?
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AnonymousDoes "spoil" mean "damage" here?
Oh, yes! Definitely.

CJ
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But why did the writer need to mention he had damaged the dies?
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AnonymousBut why did the writer need to mention he had damaged the dies?
It doesn't mention directly that anyone had damaged the dies. The dies are naturally damaged by use.

Consider a machine that stamps out counterfeit money (or any kind of money or any kind of printed material, e.g., a newspaper). The ink is loaded onto the die, and the machine s
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I had no idea about the meaning in the sentence without your explanations. Thank you very much. Do both "artist" and "him" refer to Chaloner?
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Anonymous Do both "artist" and "him" refer to Chaloner?
Yes.

CJ
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