Definition of FOUL

foul

Plural: fouls

Noun

  • an act that violates the rules of a sport
  • 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.
  • A (usually accidental) contact between a bowler and the lane before the bowler has released the ball.
  • A foul ball, a ball which has been hit outside of the base lines.

Verb

Verb Forms: fouled, fouling, fouls

  • To make foul or dirty; to entangle.
  • hit a foul ball
  • make impure
  • become or cause to become obstructed
  • commit a foul; break the rules
  • spot, stain, or pollute
  • make unclean
    • "foul the water"
  • become soiled and dirty
  • To make dirty.
  • To besmirch.
  • To obstruct, block, or otherwise interfere with (something), for example by clogging (a drain, gun barrel, chimney, etc) or by being in the way of (a gunshot, etc).
  • To entangle.
  • To make contact with an opposing player in order to gain advantage.
  • To commit a foul.
  • To hit outside of the baselines.
  • To hit a ball outside of the baselines.
  • To become clogged.
  • To become entangled.
  • To come into contact or collide with.

Adjective Satellite

  • highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust
  • offensively malodorous
    • "a foul odor"
  • violating accepted standards or rules
    • "used foul means to gain power"
  • (of a manuscript) defaced with changes
    • "foul (or dirty) copy"
  • characterized by obscenity
    • "foul language"
  • disgustingly dirty; filled or smeared with offensive matter
    • "a foul pond"
  • especially of a ship's lines etc
    • "with its sails afoul"
    • "a foul anchor"

Adjective

  • Offensive to the senses; disgusting.
  • (of a baseball) not hit between the foul lines

Adj

  • Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty.
  • Obscene, vulgar or abusive.
  • Detestable, unpleasant, loathsome.
  • Disgusting, repulsive; causing disgust.
  • Ugly; homely; poor.
  • Unpleasant, stormy or rainy. (of the weather)
  • Dishonest or not conforming to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc.
  • Entangled and therefore restricting free movement, not clear.
  • (with "of") Positioned on, in, or near enough to (a specified area) so as to obstruct it.
  • Outside of the base lines; in foul territory.

Examples

  • A rope could get foul while it is being paid out.
  • A ship's bottom is foul when overgrown with barnacles
  • A well is foul with polluted water.
  • Foul play is not suspected.
  • He has a foul set of friends.
  • He played ’FOUL’ and accidentally blocked his own best scoring lane on the board.
  • He's fouled his reputation.
  • His foul hands got dirt all over the kitchen.
  • His foul language causes many people to believe he is uneducated.
  • Jones fouled for strike one.
  • Jones fouled the ball off the facing of the upper deck.
  • Jones hit a foul up over the screen.
  • Jones hit foul ball after foul ball.
  • She's fouled her diaper.
  • Smith fouled him hard.
  • Smith fouled within the first minute of the quarter.
  • Some foul weather is brewing.
  • That ’foul’ word choice not only scored low but also left no openings for subsequent plays.
  • The air was so foul nobody could breathe.
  • The drain fouled.
  • The hair has fouled the drain.
  • The kelp has fouled the prop.
  • The prop fouled on the kelp.
  • The rascal spewed forth a series of foul words.
  • There was a foul smell coming from the toilet.
  • This cloth is too foul to use as a duster.
  • This foul food is making me retch.
  • to foul the face or hands with mire
  • We've got a foul anchor.

Origin / Etymology

Inherited from Middle English foul, from Old English fūl (“foul, dirty, unclean, impure, vile, corrupt, rotten, stinking, guilty”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūl, from Proto-Germanic *fūlaz (“foul, rotten”), from Proto-Indo-European *puH- (“to rot”).
Cognate with Dutch vuil (“foul, dirty, filthy, obscene, lewd”), German faul (“foul, rotten, putrid, lazy”), German Low German fuul (“foul, rotten, putrid”), Faroese fúlur (“foul”), Icelandic fúll (“foul, rotten, sullen”), Danish ful (“nasty, ugly”), Norwegian Bokmål ful (“clever, sly”), and Swedish ful (“ugly, dirty, bad”), 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.

Antonyms

fair, unclog

Scrabble Score: 7

foul: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
foul: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
foul: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 9

foul: valid Words With Friends Word