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The Collaborative International Dictionary
To owe one a spite

Spite \Spite\, n. [Abbreviated fr. despite.]

  1. 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.

  2. 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.