FOUL

foul, afoul(ip), fouled

(adjective) especially of a ship’s lines etc; “with its sails afoul”; “a foul anchor”

filthy, foul, nasty

(adjective) disgustingly dirty; filled or smeared with offensive matter; “as filthy as a pigsty”; “a foul pond”; “a nasty pigsty of a room”

cruddy, filthy, foul, nasty, smutty

(adjective) characterized by obscenity; “had a filthy mouth”; “foul language”; “smutty jokes”

foul

(adjective) (of a baseball) not hit between the foul lines

dirty, cheating(a), foul, unsporting, unsportsmanlike

(adjective) violating accepted standards or rules; “a dirty fighter”; “used foul means to gain power”; “a nasty unsporting serve”; “fined for unsportsmanlike behavior”

fetid, foetid, foul, foul-smelling, funky, noisome, smelly, stinking, ill-scented

(adjective) offensively malodorous; “a foul odor”; “the kitchen smelled really funky”

dirty, foul, marked-up

(adjective) (of a manuscript) defaced with changes; “foul (or dirty) copy”

disgusting, disgustful, distasteful, foul, loathly, loathsome, repellent, repellant, repelling, revolting, skanky, wicked, yucky

(adjective) highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust; “a disgusting smell”; “distasteful language”; “a loathsome disease”; “the idea of eating meat is repellent to me”; “revolting food”; “a wicked stench”

foul

(noun) an act that violates the rules of a sport

foul

(verb) become soiled and dirty

foul

(verb) make unclean; “foul the water”

foul, befoul, defile, maculate

(verb) spot, stain, or pollute; “The townspeople defiled the river by emptying raw sewage into it”

pollute, foul, contaminate

(verb) make impure; “The industrial wastes polluted the lake”

foul

(verb) commit a foul; break the rules

foul

(verb) hit a foul ball

clog, choke off, clog up, back up, congest, choke, foul

(verb) become or cause to become obstructed; “The leaves clog our drains in the Fall”; “The water pipe is backed up”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Adjective

foul (comparative fouler, superlative foulest)

Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty.

(of words or a way of speaking) obscene, vulgar or abusive.

Detestable, unpleasant, loathsome.

Disgusting, repulsive; causing disgust.

(obsolete) Ugly; homely; poor.

(of the weather) Unpleasant, stormy or rainy.

Dishonest or not conforming to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc.

(nautical) Entangled and therefore restricting free movement, not clear.

(baseball) Outside of the base lines; in foul territory.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "foul" is often applied: play, ball, language, breath, smell, odor, water, weather, deed.

Synonyms

• (hateful, detestable): shameful; odious; wretched

Etymology 2

Verb

foul (third-person singular simple present fouls, present participle fouling, simple past and past participle fouled)

(transitive) To make dirty.

(transitive) To besmirch.

(transitive) To clog or obstruct.

(transitive, nautical) To entangle.

(transitive, basketball) To make contact with an opposing player in order to gain advantage.

(transitive, baseball) To hit outside of the baselines.

(intransitive) To become clogged.

(intransitive) To become entangled.

(intransitive, basketball) To commit a foul.

(intransitive, baseball) To hit a ball outside of the baselines.

Noun

foul (plural fouls)

(sports) A breach of the rules of a game, especially one involving inappropriate contact with an opposing player in order to gain an advantage; for example, tripping someone up in soccer, or contact of any kind in basketball.

(bowling) A (usually accidental) contact between a bowler and the lane before the bowler has released the ball.

(baseball) A foul ball, a ball which has been hit outside of the base lines.

Anagrams

• fluo-

Source: Wiktionary

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Foul, n. Etym: [See Fowl.]

Definition: A bird. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Foul, a. [Compar. Fouler (-er); superl. Foulest.] Etym: [OE. foul, ful, AS. ful; akin to D. vuil, G. faul rotten, OHG. ful, Icel. ful foul, fetid; Dan. fuul, Sw. ful foul, Goth. fuls fetid, Lith. puti to be putrid, L. putere to stink, be putrid, pus pus, Gr. py`on pus, to cause to rot, Skr. puy to stink. *82. Cf. Defile to foul, File to foul, Filth, Pus, Putrid.]

1. Covered with, or containing, extraneous matter which is injurious, noxious, offensive, or obstructive; filthy; dirty; not clean; polluted; nasty; defiled; as, a foul cloth; foul hands; a foul chimney; foul air; a ship's bottom is foul when overgrown with barnacles; a gun becomes foul from repeated firing; a well is foul with polluted water. My face is foul with weeping. Job. xvi. 16.

2. Scurrilous; obscene or profane; abusive; as, foul words; foul language.

3. Hateful; detestable; shameful; odious; wretched. "The foul with Sycorax." Shak. Who first seduced them to that foul revolt Milton.

4. Loathsome; disgusting; as, a foul disease.

5. Ugly; homely; poor. [Obs.] Chaucer. Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares. Shak.

6. Not favorable; unpropitious; not fair or advantageous; as, a foul wind; a foul road; cloudy or rainy; stormy; not fair; -- said of the weather, sky, etc. So foul a sky clears not without a storm. Shak.

7. Not conformed to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc.; unfair; dishonest; dishonorable; cheating; as, foul play.

8. Having freedom of motion interfered with by collision or entanglement; entangled; -- opposed to clear; as, a rope or cable may get foul while paying it out.

Foul anchor. (Naut.) See under Anchor.

– Foul ball (Baseball), a ball that first strikes the ground outside of the foul ball lines, or rolls outside of certain limits.

– Foul ball lines (Baseball), lines from the home base, through the first and third bases, to the boundary of the field.

– Foul berth (Naut.), a berth in which a ship is in danger of fouling another vesel.

– Foul bill, or Foul bill of health, a certificate, duly authenticated, that a ship has come from a place where a contagious disorder prevails, or that some of the crew are infected.

– Foul copy, a rough draught, with erasures and corrections; -- opposed to fair or clean copy. "Some writers boast of negligence, and others would be ashamed to show their foul copies." Cowper.

– Foul proof, an uncorrected proof; a proof containing an excessive quantity of errors.

– Foul strike (Baseball), a strike by the batsman when any part of his person is outside of the lines of his position.

– To fall foul, to fall out; to quarrel. [Obs.] "If they be any ways offended, they fall foul." Burton.

– To fall, or run, foul of. See under Fall.

– To make foul water, to sail in such shallow water that the ship's keel stirs the mud at the bottom.

Foul, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fouled; p. pr. & vb. n. Fouling.]

1. To make filthy; to defile; to daub; to dirty; to soil; as, to foul the face or hands with mire.

2. (Mil.)

Definition: To incrust (the bore of a gun) with burnt powder in the process of firing.

3. To cover (a ship's bottom) with anything that impered its sailing; as, a bottom fouled with barnacles.

4. To entangle, so as to impede motion; as, to foul a rope or cable in paying it out; to come into collision with; as, one boat fouled the other in a race.

Foul, v. i.

1. To become clogged with burnt powder in the process of firing, as a gun.

2. To become entagled, as ropes; to come into collision with something; as, the two boats fouled.

Foul, n.

1. An entanglement; a collision, as in a boat race.

2. (Baseball)

Definition: See Foul ball, under Foul, a.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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