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foul definition

Overview

This page has 29 definitions of foul with English translations in 4 languages. Foul is an adjective, verb and noun. Examples of how to use foul in a sentence are shown. Also define these 0 related words and terms: .

See also: Foul

English foul definition

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English foul, from Old English fūl (“foul, unclean, impure, vile, corrupt, rotten, guilty”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūl, from Proto-Germanic *fūlaz (“foul, rotten”), from Proto-Indo-European *puH- (“to rot”).

Cognate with Dutch vuil (“foul”), German faul (“rotten, putrid”), Danish and Swedish ful (“foul”), and through Indo-European, with Albanian fëlliq (“to make dirty”), Latin puter (“rotten”). More at putrid.

Ancient Greek φαῦλος (phaûlos, “bad”) is a false cognate inasmuch as it is not from the same etymon, instead being cognate to few.

Adjective

foul (comparative fouler, superlative foulest)

  1. Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty.
    • 2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29:
      Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.
    This cloth is too foul to use as a duster.
    His foul hands got dirt all over the kitchen.
    The air was so foul nobody could breathe.
    A ship's bottom is foul when overgrown with barnacles
    A well is foul with polluted water.
  2. (of words or a way of speaking) Obscene, vulgar or abusive.
    The rascal spewed forth a series of foul words.
    His foul language causes many people to believe he is uneducated.
  3. Detestable, unpleasant, loathsome.
    He has a foul set of friends.
  4. Disgusting, repulsive; causing disgust.
    This foul food is making me retch.
    There was a foul smell coming from the toilet.
  5. (obsolete) Ugly; homely; poor.
  6. (of the weather) Unpleasant, stormy or rainy.
    Some foul weather is brewing.
  7. Dishonest or not conforming to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc.
    Foul play is not suspected.
  8. (nautical) Entangled and therefore restricting free movement, not clear.
    We've got a foul anchor.
    A rope could get foul while it is being paid out.
  9. (technical) (with "of") Positioned on, in, or near enough to (a specified area) so as to obstruct it.
    • 2015, Transportation Safety Board of Canada, Railway Investigation Report R13T0192[1]:
      The bus had stopped just foul of the north track at the Erindale Station Road public railway crossing […] With the bus stationary, but still foul of the north track, the train struck one of its front mirrors.
  10. (baseball) Outside of the base lines; in foul territory.
    Jones hit foul ball after foul ball.
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Dictionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Collocations

with nouns
  • foul play
  • foul ball
  • foul language
  • foul breath
  • foul smell
  • foul odor
  • foul water
  • foul weather
  • foul deed
Synonyms
Derived terms
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Middle English foulen, fulen, from Old English fūlian (“to become foul; rot; decay”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūlijan, from Proto-Germanic *fūlāną (“to rot; decay”).

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To make dirty.
    to foul the face or hands with mire
    She's fouled her diaper.
    Synonyms: befoul, dirty, besmirch
  2. (transitive) To besmirch.
    He's fouled his reputation.
  3. (transitive) To clog or obstruct.
    The hair has fouled the drain.
    • 1961 November, “Talking of Trains: Aircraft on rail tracks”, in Trains Illustrated, page 650:
      As a result of the accident at Southend Airport when a Hermes aircraft overshot the runway and fouled the down Shenfield to Southend Victoria line between Rochford and Prittlewell, the Eastern Region is considering warning arrangements, which have already been provided on some lines running past aerodromes.
  4. (transitive, nautical) To entangle.
    • 1941, Emily Carr, Klee Wyck, Chapter 18, [2]
      The Indian's heart was sore for his boat; it looked as if nothing could save her. She was drifting more slowly now, her propeller fouled in kelp.
    The kelp has fouled the prop.
  5. (transitive, basketball) To make contact with an opposing player in order to gain advantage.
    Smith fouled him hard.
  6. (intransitive, basketball) To commit a foul.
    Smith fouled within the first minute of the quarter.
  7. (transitive, baseball) To hit outside of the baselines.
    Jones fouled the ball off the facing of the upper deck.
  8. (intransitive, baseball) To hit a ball outside of the baselines.
    Jones fouled for strike one.
  9. (intransitive) To become clogged.
    The drain fouled.
  10. (intransitive) To become entangled.
    The prop fouled on the kelp.
  11. To come into contact or collide with.
    • 1963 July, “News and Comment: The future of coal by rail”, in Modern Railways, page 5:
      The full capacity, however, requires a hopper of a size that takes the wagon body up to 11ft 11½in above rail level, which would foul many existing colliery screens.
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

foul (plural fouls)

  1. (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.
    • 2011 December 10, Arindam Rej, “Norwich 4 - 2 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport‎[3]:
      A second Norwich goal in four minutes arrived after some dire Newcastle defending. Gosling gave the ball away with a sloppy back-pass, allowing Crofts to curl in a cross that the unmarked Morison powered in with a firm, 12-yard header.
      Gosling's plight worsened when he was soon shown a red card for a foul on Martin.
  2. (bowling) A (usually accidental) contact between a bowler and the lane before the bowler has released the ball.
  3. (baseball) A foul ball, a ball which has been hit outside of the base lines.
    Jones hit a foul up over the screen.
Descendants
Translations

See also

Further reading

Anagrams

Chinese foul definition

Etymology

From English foul.

Pronunciation

Verb

foul

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, in competitions) to disqualify; to eliminate

Synonyms

References

German foul definition

Pronunciation

Verb

foul

  1. singular imperative of foulen
  2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of foulen

Middle English foul definition

Etymology 1

From Old French fol.

Noun

foul

  1. Alternative form of fole (“fool”)

Etymology 2

From Old English fugol.

Noun

foul

  1. Alternative form of fowel
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