foul 
foul (fo̵ul)
adjective
- so offensive to the senses as to cause disgust; stinking; loathsome a foul odor
- extremely dirty or impure; disgustingly filthy
- full of or blocked up with dirt or foreign objects a foul pipe
- putrid; rotten: said of food
- not decent; obscene; profane foul language
- very wicked; abominable a foul murder
- not clear; stormy; unfavorable foul weather, winds, etc.
- tangled or snarled; caught a foul rope
- not according to the rules of a game; unfair, by either accident or intention
- treacherous; dishonest
- Chiefly Brit., Now Dial. ugly
- Informal unpleasant, disagreeable, etc.
- ☆ Baseball of or having to do with the part of the field that lies outside the foul lines
- Printing containing errors or marked with changes foul copy or proof
Etymology: ME < OE ful, akin to Ger faul, rotten, lazy < IE base *pū-, *pu-, to stink (< ? exclamation of disgust) > L putere, to rot, Gr pyon, pus
adverb
- in a foul way
- Baseball in or into the part of the field that lies outside the foul lines
noun
anything foul; specif.,
- a collision of boats, contestants, etc.
- an infraction of the rules, as of a game or sport
- Baseball foul ball
transitive verb
- to make foul; dirty; soil; defile
- to dishonor or disgrace
- to impede or obstruct; specif.,
- to fill up; encrust; choke to foul a drain with grease
- to cover (the bottom of a ship) with barnacles, seaweed, etc.
- to entangle; catch a rope fouled in the shrouds
- to make a foul against in a contest or game
- ☆ Baseball to bat (the ball) so that it falls outside the foul lines
intransitive verb
- to become dirty, filthy, or rotten
- to be clogged or choked
- to become tangled
- to break the rules of a game
- Baseball to bat the ball so that it falls outside the foul lines or is caught there to foul to the third baseman
foul out
☆- Baseball to be retired as batter by the catch of a foul ball
- Basketball to be disqualified from further play for having committed a specified number of personal fouls
foul up
☆Informal to make a mess of; make disordered or confused; bungle
run foul of
or fall foul of- to collide with or become entangled in
- to get into trouble with
foul
modif.
Soiled
dirty, unclean, filthy, impure; see dirty 1.Disgusting
Obscene or abusive
nasty, vulgar, coarse; see lewd 1, opprobrious 1, ribald.Unfair
inequitable, unjust, dishonorable, vicious; see dishonest 2.
run<strong> or </strong>fall foul of
foul
v.
To make dirty
defile, pollute, sully, soil; see dirty.To become dirty or entangled
soil, spot, discolor, stain, clog, jam, snarl, catch, be clogged, be choked, be tangled, be coated, be encrusted, be blocked, be filled.
Object
- propeller: Often the tow cable parted, fouled the propeller or the charge would prematurely explode!
- pavement: Please visit our Dog Warden Services pages for more information regarding Dogs in the Boro What can I do about dogs fouling the pavements?
- organism: Effects on commercial interests It is a fouling organism.
- litter: Are you fed up with a local issue, pavements, dog fouling, litter, speeding traffic?
- bin: The dog fouling bin is in the process of being installed on Oxford Meadow.
Converse of object
- commit: Only Burnley having a worse record although it was just on fouls committed and not cards shown.
Preposition: on
- keeper: Wigg did bundle the ball into the net a few minutes later, but it was disallowed for a foul on the keeper.
- footpath: A dog has fouled on the footpath - when will it be cleaned?
- edge: A foul on the edge of the center circle gave Barnard the chance to come forward and pump the ball into the Billericay box.
Used with adjective complement
- fall: She seems to have fallen foul heavily of the people editing her letters.
- cry: Faced with this growing international movement, some have cried foul.
- smell: It's quiet and dark in the bin and it smells foul, but there's a lot of noise outside.
Modifies a noun
- sewer: There are three options: Disposal to the foul sewer may be possible with the prior arrangement of the local sewage provider.
- stench: The badger put his bottom right up against the nest and let out the foulest stench that I have ever smelled.
- odor: The only drawback is the foul odor meaning the dung can only be used on tracks in uninhabited areas!
- sewage: The disposal of foul sewage shall be by means approved by the Local Planning Authority.
- odor: B Bactericide Additive to inhibit bacterial growth in the aqueous component of fluids, preventing foul odors.
- smell: In a MUD, I can say, there's a foul smell of decaying flesh emanating from the east.
Preposition: of
- law: Yet objectively speaking that was a work of art that didn't fall foul of any British law.
- legislation: Mr Noel Graham would be running the premises and when a previous owner of the premises did not fall foul of the legislation.
The little cousin is dead, by foul subtraction, A green bough fromVirginia's aged tree.
While the journalist exists merelyas the publicity agent of big business, a large circulation, got by fair means or foul, is a newspaper's one and onlyaim.
Keep up appearances; there lies the test; The world will give thee credit for the rest. Outward be fair, however foul within; Sin if thou wilt, but then in secret sin.
It is the lees left by Bismarck that still foul the cup.
Browse dictionary entries near foul
- ‹ fought
- ‹ fouetté
- ‹ foudroyant
- ‹ Foucault pendulum
- ‹ Foucault
- ‹ FOTS
- ‹ fosterling
- ‹ fosterage
- ‹ foster home
- ‹ foster
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