English
foul
Pronunciation Adjective

foul (comparative fouler, superlative foulest)

  1. Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty.
    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.
    • c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act II scene ii:
      […] Hast thou forgot / The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy / Was grown into a hoop? Hast thou forgot her?
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book 1”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708 ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554 ↗:
      Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?
  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.
    • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene iii]:
      Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares.
  6. i of the weather Unpleasant, stormy or rainy.
    Some foul weather is brewing.
    • c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene ii]:
      So foul a sky clears not without a storm.
  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 paying it out.
  9. (baseball) Outside of the base lines; in foul territory.
    Jones hit foul ball after foul ball.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • Russian: отврати́тельный
Translations
  • Russian: га́дкий
Translations
  • German: foul
  • Russian: нече́стный
Verb

foul (fouls, present participle fouling; past and past participle fouled)

  1. (transitive) To make dirty.
    to foul the face or hands with mire
    She's fouled her diaper.
  2. (transitive) To besmirch.
    He's fouled his reputation.
  3. (transitive) To clog or obstruct.
    The hair has fouled the drain.
  4. (transitive, nautical) To entangle.
    • 1941, Emily Carr, Klee Wyck, Chapter 18,
      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. (transitive, baseball) To hit outside of the baselines.
    Jones fouled the ball off the facing of the upper deck.
  7. (intransitive) To become clogged.
    The drain fouled.
  8. (intransitive) To become entangled.
    The prop fouled on the kelp.
  9. (intransitive, basketball) To commit a foul.
    Smith fouled within the first minute of the quarter.
  10. (intransitive, baseball) To hit a ball outside of the baselines.
    Jones fouled for strike one.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • German: verwirrt werden, sich verwickeln
  • Russian: запутываться
  • Spanish: enredarse
Translations
  • German: foulen
  • Russian: фоли́ть
  • Spanish: cometer una falta
Translations
  • German: foulen
  • Russian: зафаливать
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.
  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.
Translations

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