U.S. [f. SPOIL sb. 1 e.] One who obtains, or seeks to obtain, a share of political spoils.
1850. in T. H. Benton, Thirty Years (1856), II. 784/1. The Compromise: ‘The best the South can get.’ A cowardly banner held out by the spoilsman that would sell his country for a mess of pottage.
1860. Motley, Netherl. (1868), I. 38–9. The spoilsmen, whose purpose was to rob the exchequer and to enrich themselves.
1888. Bryce, Amer. Commw., III. lxv. II. 491. The extension of examinations will tend more and more to exclude mere spoilsmen from the public service.
