The Collaborative International Dictionary
Spite \Spite\, n. [Abbreviated fr. despite.]
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Ill-will or hatred toward another, accompanied with the disposition to irritate, annoy, or thwart; petty malice; grudge; rancor; despite.
--Pope.This is the deadly spite that angers.
--Shak. -
Vexation; chargrin; mortification. [R.]
--Shak.In spite of, or Spite of, in opposition to all efforts of; in defiance or contempt of; notwithstanding. ``Continuing, spite of pain, to use a knee after it had been slightly injured.''
--H. Spenser. ``And saved me in spite of the world, the devil, and myself.''
--South. ``In spite of all applications, the patient grew worse every day.''
--Arbuthnot. See Syn. under Notwithstanding.To owe one a spite, to entertain a mean hatred for him.
Syn: Pique, rancor; malevolence; grudge.
Usage: Spite, Malice. Malice has more reference to the disposition, and spite to the manifestation of it in words and actions. It is, therefore, meaner than malice, thought not always more criminal. `` Malice . . . is more frequently employed to express the dispositions of inferior minds to execute every purpose of mischief within the more limited circle of their abilities.''
--Cogan. ``Consider eke, that spite availeth naught.''
--Wyatt. See Pique.
Wiktionary
prep. (context idiomatic English) despite, irrespective of, notwithstanding.
Usage examples of "in spite of".
Westerners are intensely disturbed at the mere suggestion of an existence after death: devout Christians, in particular, react with an emotion akin to revulsion in spite of giving lip service to it in their religious beliefs.
Some, drained by the mission, fell asleep at once in spite of the glare.
They looked like sad little tramps, and they also looked frozen in spite of everything they had on.
That made him wonder how much Tessrek, in spite of his fluent English, truly grasped of the ideas he mouthed.
What he did not tell me what no one could is that these last ten years of coming to terms with my disease would turn out to be the best ten years of my life not in spite of my illness, but because of it.
The cooling was being done from outside the magazine, with hoses rigged to through-bulkhead hose connections: in spite of it the temperature was still rising, and there were still two crated missiles to come out.
In the present instance, however, she was called upon to put forward all her good qualities, for in spite of the large sum it had cost Veneda to charter him, the captain was fully aware of the risk he had taken upon himself, and he had therefore no desire that anything should occur to impede or delay his departure.
On his side, in spite of her manly attire, he could not but admit her attractions, and when she complimented him on the sailing qualities of the Island Queen, she had laid the foundation of his capture.
It was late, I knew, for a cabby to be abroad, but I had little doubt that I should soon find some driver who would be glad to earn a few additional guilders, in spite of the dangerous nature of the business for which I wanted him.
The young woman putting away her gun in spite of her suspicions spoke volumes for the efficiency of the new watchdogs.
He gazed at the brilliant display of guns, fascinated in spite of himself.
It was not a particularly swift process but, in spite of that, both shadowswithdrew?
He wore an overcoat of expensive material and he was very obviously not a person who had come on the boat, in spite of his shriveled and insignificant appearance.
Clark, in spite of his rebellion against his parents is essentially a well-brought up young man.
Maybe it was this that in spite of the age difference - Kareem was twelve, where I was nine - had brought us close to one another.