Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Foil

Foil: noun - metal hammered or rolled into a thin sheet; also, metallizedplastic film; a heraldic representation of a leaf; thin layer of any material,a paring; thin leaf of metal placed under a precious stone to increase itsbrilliance or under a transparent substance to give it the appearance of aprecious stone; a sheet of metal foil, tin amalgam, fixed behind the glass in amirror to act as the reflector; something or person setting off another bycontrast; architecture - small arcs between cusps on a Gothic window or arch. In literature, foils are characters who react to one another's quirks;like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, or Jeeves and Wooster.
'Shirley wrapped Simon's sandwiches in aluminium foil tokeep them fresh for his trek across the desert.'
'Ernie Wise acted as a foil for Eric Morecambe's jokes.'