/ faʊl; NAmE / adjective , verb , noun
■ adjective ( foul·er , foul·est )
1.
dirty and smelling bad :
foul air / breath
a foul-smelling prison
➡ note at disgusting
2.
( especially BrE ) very unpleasant; very bad :
She's in a foul mood .
His boss has a foul temper .
This tastes foul.
➡ note at terrible
3.
( of language ) including rude words and swearing
SYN offensive :
foul language
I'm sick of her foul mouth (= habit of swearing) .
He called her the foulest names imaginable.
4.
( of weather ) very bad, with strong winds and rain :
a foul night
5.
( literary ) very evil or cruel
SYN abominable :
a foul crime / murder
► foul·ly / ˈfaʊlli; NAmE / adverb :
He swore foully.
She had been foully murdered during the night.
► foul·ness noun [ U ]:
The air was heavy with the stink of damp and foulness.
•
IDIOMS
- fall foul of sb / sth
—more at fair adjective , cry verb
■ verb
1.
[ vn ] ( in sport ) to do sth to another player that is against the rules of the game :
He was fouled inside the penalty area.
2.
[ v , vn ] ( in baseball ) to hit the ball outside the playing area
3.
[ vn ] to make sth dirty, usually with waste material :
Do not permit your dog to foul the grass.
4.
~ (sth) (up) to become caught or twisted in sth and stop it working or moving :
[ vn ]
The rope fouled the propeller.
[ v ]
A rope fouled up (= became twisted) as we pulled the sail down.
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- foul up
- foul sth up
■ noun
( in sport ) an action that is against the rules of the game :
It was a clear foul by Ford on the goalkeeper.
( NAmE )
to hit a foul (= in baseball , a ball that is too far left or right, outside the lines that mark the side of the field)
—see also professional foul
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English fūl , of Germanic origin; related to Old Norse fúll foul, Dutch vuil dirty, and German faul rotten, lazy, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin pus , Greek puos pus, and Latin putere to stink.