I. ˈfau̇l, esp before pause or consonant -au̇əl adjective
( usually -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English fūl; akin to Old High German fūl rotten, Old Norse fūll foul, Gothic fūls stinking, Latin pus pus, putēre to stink, Greek pyon pus, pythein to cause to rot, Sanskrit pūyati it stinks
1.
a. : offensive to the senses : loathsome
in their foul homes of dirt and rag — Bernard Gutteridge
b. : charged with offensive matter : rotten , putrid
the contents of the bowl are foul and stinking — J.G.Frazer
2. : full of dirt or mud : muddy
3.
a. : morally or spiritually odious : wicked
how foul are all impulses of prejudice — J.H.Holmes
b. : notably unpleasant or distressing
if my day has been foul , I can turn on my … radio and everything's mellow — Adrian Dove
4.
a. : obscene , profane
much of this most tedious and lengthy book is foul , lewd, and revolting — Hartley Shawcross
b. : abusive
it was hard for me to take all the foul names he called me — H.A.Chippendale
c. dialect England : bad-tempered : unfriendly
5.
a. : wet and stormy : disagreeable
foul weather
a foul sky
b. : obstructive to navigation : unfavorable , dangerous
we had a foul tide — Peter Heaton
always presume your course to be foul unless you know it to be clear — H.A.Calahan
6.
a. now dialect Britain : not attractive : homely , ugly
I don't look too foul do I — A.J.Cronin
b. of a feather or plumage : of any color not accepted as standard for birds of a particular variety or breed
7.
a. : grossly unfair : treacherous , dishonorable
competition was stifled by fair means or foul — Grace L. Nute
b. : characterized by harshness, roughness, or violence
war is a foul game — R.W.Emerson
c. : constituting an infringement of rules in a game or sport
a foul hand in poker
a foul blow in boxing
8.
a. : marked up : defaced by changes
a foul galley proof
a foul manuscript
b. of a proof in printing : pulled before the latest alterations were made in type
9.
a. : encrusted, clogged, or choked with a foreign substance
a foul ship bottom
a foul chimney
on foul land weeds may get the better of clover — E.V.Wilcox
b. : littered especially with matter that should have been put away
a foul stone in printing
10.
a. : odorous and impure : polluted
foul air
foul water
b. archaic : discolored
we make foul the clearness of our deservings — Shakespeare
11. : hindered from freedom of motion by collision or entanglement : entangled
a foul fishline
12. : eating coarse food or carrion — used especially in the phrase foul feeder
13. of a typecase : containing many missorted characters
14. : outside the foul lines in baseball — compare foul ball , foul line
Synonyms: see dirty
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English fūl, from fūl, adjective — more at foul I
1. archaic : something that is foul
foul befall the man who ever lays a snare in its way — Laurence Sterne
2. : foot rot 2
3. : an entanglement or collision especially in angling or sailing
4.
a. : an infringement of the rules in a game or sport (as in basketball) for which a penalty is levied against the offending person or team — see personal foul , technical foul , violation
b. : free throw
5. : foul ball
III. adverb
Etymology: Middle English foule, from Old English fūle, from fūl, adjective
: foully
IV. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English foulen, from Old English fūlian, from fūl, adjective
intransitive verb
1. : to become or be foul: as
a. : to become odorous : decompose , rot
it is this organic refuse which alone is fouling — Emily Holt
b. : to become encrusted, clogged, or choked with a foreign substance
a gun fouls
c. : to become entangled or come into collision
this may cause … the suspension lines of the parachute to foul — H.G.Armstrong
2. : to commit a foul in a sport or game
3. : to make an out in baseball by hitting a foul ball that is caught by a member of the opposing team
the batter fouled to the first baseman
transitive verb
1. : to make foul: as
a. : to make dirty : soil , pollute
air was fouled and darkened by factory soot — J.D.Hart
b. : to become entangled or come into collision with
a raveled rope fouled a pulley — L.C.Douglas
the propeller fouled a treetop — T.E.McKitterick
c. : to encrust with a foreign substance
when a ship's bottom is fouled from sea grass and barnacles it often takes 10 percent more fuel to keep her going at normal speed — National Geographic
d. : obstruct , block
the carrier's flight deck was fouled by a crashed plane
e. of a bird : to mark with areas of plumage of a color not accepted as standard
2. : to bring into disgrace : dishonor , discredit
it is senseless to foul our municipal personnel with unproved charges — Robert Moses
3. : to commit a foul against (as in basketball)
4. : to hit (a baseball) foul
he fouled the first pitch