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Foul up
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
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.
EXPANDclogged 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.
COLLAPSEObsolete. 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.
EXPANDto 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.
COLLAPSEBaseball. to hit (a pitched ball) foul (often followed by off or away): He fouled off two curves before being struck out on a fastball.
verb (used without object)
Verb phrases31.
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.
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.
Idiomsfoul up, Informal. to cause confusion or disorder; bungle; spoil.
38.
fall foul/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/afoul of, to come into collision or controversy with: to run foul of the press.
Origin:
before 900; (adj. and noun) Middle English ful, foul, Old English fūl; cognate with Gothic fuls, Old Norse fūll, Old High German fūl; akin to Latin pūs pus, pūtēre to stink, Greek pýon pus; (adv.) Middle English fule, foule, derivative of the adj.; (v.) Middle English fulen, derivative of the adj.
before 900; (adj. and noun) Middle English ful, foul, Old English fūl; cognate with Gothic fuls, Old Norse fūll, Old High German fūl; akin to Latin pūs pus, pūtēre to stink, Greek pýon pus; (adv.) Middle English fule, foule, derivative of the adj.; (v.) Middle English fulen, derivative of the adj.
Related forms
foul·ly, adverb
o·ver·foul, adjective
o·ver·foul·ly, adverb
o·ver·foul·ness, noun
un·foul, adjective
EXPANDSynonyms
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.
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.
1. pleasant. 3, 24. clean. 5, 6. clear.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
|
Link To foul up
Collins
World English Dictionary
| foul up | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | (tr) to bungle; mismanage |
| 2. | (tr) to make dirty; contaminate |
| 3. | to be or cause to be blocked, choked, or entangled |
| —n | |
| 4. | a state of confusion or muddle caused by bungling |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
foul
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
EXPANDfrom a sore;" L. pus "putrid matter," putere "to stink," putridus "rotten;" Lith. puviu "to rot"). Of weather, first recorded late 14c. In the sporting sense of "irregular, unfair" it is first attested 1797, though foul play is recorded from mid-15c. O.E. ful occasionally meant "ugly" (as contrasted with fæger (adj.), modern fair), a sense frequently found in M.E., and the cognate in Swed. is the usual word for "ugly." Foulmouthed first attested 1590s in Shakespeare. Foulmart was a M.E. word for "polecat" (from O.E. mearð "marten"). As a verb, it is from O.E. fulian.
Related: Fouled; fouling.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
foul up definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
foul up
Blunder or cause to blunder; botch, ruin. For example, He's fouled up this report, but I think we can fix it, or Our plans were fouled up by the bad weather. This expression is widely believed to have originated as a euphemism for fuck up. [Colloquial; c. 1940]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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