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foul - 10 dictionary results

foul

  [foul] adjective, -er, -est, adverb, noun, verb
Use foul in a Sentence
–adjective
1. grossly offensive to the senses; disgustingly loathsome; noisome: a foul smell.
2. containing or characterized by offensive or noisome matter: foul air; foul stagnant water.
3. filthy or dirty, as places, receptacles, clothes, etc.
4. muddy, as a road.
5. clogged or obstructed with foreign matter: a foul gas jet.
6. unfavorable or stormy: foul weather.
7. contrary, violent, or unfavorable, as the wind.
8. grossly offensive in a moral sense.
9. abominable, wicked, or vile, as deeds, crime, slander, etc.
10. scurrilous, profane, or obscene; offensive: foul language.
11. contrary to the rules or established usages, as of a sport or game; unfair: a foul blow.
12. Baseball. pertaining to a foul ball or a foul line.
13. limited in freedom of movement by obstruction, entanglement, etc.: a foul anchor.
14. abounding in errors or in marks of correction, as a printer's proof, manuscript, or the like.
15. Nautical.
a. (of the underwater portion of a hull) encrusted and impeded with barnacles, seaweed, etc.
b. (of a mooring place) involving inconveniences and dangers, as of colliding with vessels or other objects when swinging with the tide.
c. (of the bottom of a body of water) affording a poor hold for an anchor (opposed to clean ).
16. North England and Scot.. not fair; ugly or unattractive.
17. Obsolete. disfigured.
–adverb
18. in a foul manner; vilely; unfairly.
19. Baseball. into foul territory; so as to be foul: It looked like a homer when he hit it, but it went foul.
–noun
20. something that is foul.
21. a collision or entanglement: a foul between two racing sculls.
22. a violation of the rules of a sport or game: The referee called it a foul.
23. Baseball. foul ball.
–verb (used with object)
24. to make foul; defile; soil.
25. to clog or obstruct, as a chimney or the bore of a gun.
26. to collide with.
27. to cause to become entangled or caught, as a rope.
28. to defile; dishonor; disgrace: His reputation had been fouled by unfounded accusations.
29. Nautical. (of barnacles, seaweed, etc.) to cling to (a hull) so as to encumber.
30. Baseball. to hit (a pitched ball) foul (often fol. by off or away): He fouled off two curves before being struck out on a fastball.
–verb (used without object)
31. to become foul.
32. Nautical. to come into collision, as two boats.
33. to become entangled or clogged: The rope fouled.
34. Sports. to make a foul play; give a foul blow.
35. Baseball. to hit a foul ball.
—Verb phrases
36. foul out,
a. Baseball. to be put out by hitting a foul ball caught on the fly by a player on the opposing team.
b. Basketball. to be expelled from a game for having committed more fouls than is allowed.
37. foul up, Informal. to cause confusion or disorder; bungle; spoil.
—Idioms
38. fall foul or afoul of,
a. to collide with, as ships.
b. to come into conflict with; quarrel.
c. to make an attack; assault.
39. foul one's nest. to dishonor one's own home, family, or the like.
40. run foul or afoul of, to come into collision or controversy with: to run foul of the press.
Origin:
bef. 900; (adj. and n.) ME ful, foul, OE fūl; c. Goth fuls, ON fūll, OHG fūl; akin to L pūs pus, pūtēre to stink, Gk pýon pus; (adv.) ME fule, foule, deriv. of the adj.; (v.) ME fulen, deriv. of the adj.

Related forms:
foully, adverb

Synonyms:
1. repulsive, repellent. 2. fetid, putrid, stinking. 3. unclean, polluted, sullied, soiled, stained, tainted, impure. See dirty. 6. rainy, tempestuous. 7. adverse. 9. base, shameful, infamous. 10. smutty, vulgar, coarse, low. 24. sully, stain, dirty, besmirch, taint, pollute. 28. shame.

Antonyms:
1. pleasant. 3, 24. clean. 5, 6. clear.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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foul   (foul)   
adj.   foul·er, foul·est
  1. Offensive to the senses; revolting.
  2. Having an offensive odor; smelly.
  3. Rotten or putrid: foul meat.
    1. Full of dirt or mud; dirty. See Synonyms at dirty.
    2. Full of impurities; polluted: foul air.
    3. Sports Contrary to the rules of a game or sport: a foul boxing punch.
    4. Baseball Outside the foul lines: a foul fly ball.
  5. Morally detestable; wicked: foul deeds.
  6. Of a vulgar or obscene nature: foul language.
  7. Very disagreeable or displeasing; horrid: a foul movie.
  8. Bad or unfavorable: in fair weather or foul.
  9. Violating accepted standards or rules; dishonorable: used foul means to gain power.
    1. Sports Contrary to the rules of a game or sport: a foul boxing punch.
    2. Baseball Outside the foul lines: a foul fly ball.
  11. Entangled or twisted: a foul anchor.
  12. Clogged or obstructed; blocked: a foul ventilator shaft.
  13. Archaic Ugly; unattractive.
n.  
  1. Abbr. F
    1. Sports An infraction or a violation of the rules of play.
    2. Baseball A foul ball.
  2. An entanglement or a collision.
  3. An instance of clogging or obstructing.
adv.  In a foul manner.
v.   fouled, foul·ing, fouls

v.   tr.
  1. To make dirty or foul; pollute. See Synonyms at contaminate.
  2. To bring into dishonor; besmirch.
  3. To clog or obstruct.
  4. To entangle or catch (a rope, for example).
  5. Nautical To encrust (a ship's hull) with foreign matter, such as barnacles.
    1. Sports To commit a foul against.
    2. Baseball To hit (a ball) outside the foul lines.
v.   intr.
  1. To become foul.
    1. Sports To commit a foul.
    2. Baseball To hit a ball outside the foul lines: fouled twice and then struck out; fouled out to the catcher.
  3. To become entangled or twisted: The anchor line fouled on a rock.
  4. To become clogged or obstructed.
Phrasal Verb(s):
foul outSports To be put out of a game for exceeding the number of permissible fouls.
foul upTo blunder or cause to blunder because of mistakes or poor judgment.

[Middle English, from Old English fūl; see p- in Indo-European roots.]
foul'ly adv., foul'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Foul

Foul\ (foul), n. [See Fowl.] A bird. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Foul

Foul\ (foul), a. [Compar. Fouler (-[~e]r); superl. Foulest.] [OE. foul, ful, AS. f[=u]l; akin to D. vuil, G. faul rotten, OHG. f[=u]l, Icel. f[=u]l foul, fetid; Dan. fuul, Sw. ful foul, Goth. f[=u]ls fetid, Lith. puti to be putrid, L. putere to stink, be putrid, pus pus, Gr. py`on pus, to cause to rot, Skr. p[=u]y to stink. [root]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

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.) 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

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

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

2. (Baseball) See Foul ball, under Foul, a.

Foul

Foul\, n. In various games or sports, an act done contrary to the rules; a foul stroke, hit, play, or the like.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : foul
Spanish: asqueroso, fétido,
German: faul,
Japanese: むかつくような
More Translations »

foul  (adj.)
O.E. ful "dirty, stinking, vile, corrupt," from P.Gmc. *fulaz (cf. O.H.G. fül, M.Du. voul, Ger. faul, Goth. füls), from base *fu-, corresponding to PIE *pu-, perhaps from the sound made in reaction to smelling something bad (cf. Skt. puyati "rots, stinks," putih "foul, rotten;" Gk. puon "discharge from a sore;" L. pus "putrid matter," putere "to stink," putridus "rotten;" Lith. puviu "to rot"). Of weather, first recorded c.1380. In the sporting sense of "irregular, unfair" it is first attested 1797, though foul play is recorded from 1440. O.E. ful occasionally meant "ugly" (as contrasted with fæger (adj.), modern fair), a sense frequently found in M.E., and the cognate in Sw. is the usual word for "ugly." Foulmouthed first attested 1596 in Shakespeare. Foulmart was a M.E. word for "polecat" (from O.E. mearð "marten").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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foul

In addition to the idioms beginning with foul, also see run afoul of.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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