foul

Pluralfouls

Formsfouler, foulest

Formsfouls, fouling, fouled

1. 1
   nouncountable

   An act that breaks the rules of a game, especially illegal contact with an opposing player, such as tripping someone in soccer.

   The striker went down in the box, and the referee awarded a penalty for the foul.

   Two technical fouls in the third quarter got the coach ejected.

   UsageA player commits a foul, the referee calls or whistles one, and the player on the receiving end draws one.

   Similarinfringement, infraction, violation

   Note

   Basketball separates personal fouls, for illegal contact, from technical fouls, for conduct such as arguing with officials. In baseball the noun usually means something else: a foul ball, a hit outside the lines, which breaks no rule.

2. 2
   disgustingadjective

   So nasty that it fills people with disgust or revulsion.

   The foulest odor came from a crate of fish that had been left in the sun.

   The cafeteria served a foul gray stew that most students left untouched.

   UsageMost often of smells and tastes (a foul smell, it tastes foul). Same sound as fowl, birds such as chickens.

   Similarrank

3. 3
   break a rule (sport)verbtransitive

   In a sport such as basketball or soccer, to break a rule of play, especially by illegal contact with an opponent, such as pushing, tripping or holding; also used without an object.

   Coaches told the defenders to foul the opposing guard rather than allow an easy layup.

   The midfielder fouled the winger just outside the box, giving away a dangerous free kick.

   UsageOften in the passive: he was fouled in the box. Hard goes with rough contact (fouled him hard).

4. 4
   rude (words)adjective

   Of words or speech: crude, obscene, or insulting.

   He let loose a stream of foul abuse at the umpire.

   The station was fined after a guest's foul remarks went out on live radio.

   UsageMost often in foul language and a foul mouth; someone who swears a lot is foul-mouthed.

   Similarobscene, vulgar, crude, abusive, offensive

   Oppositeclean

5. 5
   adjective

   Involving cheating or deceit, or going against the accepted rules and customs of a game, a fight, a test, or the like.

   The referee disqualified the fighter for a deliberately foul blow to the back of the head.

   He was determined to win the election by fair means or foul.

   UsageMost often in foul play, and in the set phrase by fair means or foul.

   Similarunfair, dirty, illegal, dishonest

   Oppositefair

   Note

   In news of a death or a disappearance, foul play means a crime, often violence, and police say it is not suspected when nothing they have found points to a crime. In sport the same phrase can still mean simply unfair play.

6. 6
   horribleadjective

   Very unpleasant or nasty, sometimes so bad that it deserves to be loathed; of a person's mood or temper, angry and hard to bear.

   After a long day of delays and missed connections, he arrived home in a foul mood and snapped at everyone.

   Poisoning the village well was a foul deed, and the villagers never forgave him.

   UsageMost often in a foul mood or temper; said of a person (a foul man), it condemns rather than merely dislikes.

   Similarvile, wicked, evil, despicable, loathsome

   Oppositepleasant

   Note

   Here the dirt can be moral, and that use is old too: Old English fūl could already mean vile, corrupt and guilty. Shakespeare's Prospero speaks of the foul witch Sycorax in The Tempest, and Milton asks "Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?" in Paradise Lost (1667).

7. 7
   outside the linesadjective

   Of a batted ball or a part of a baseball field: outside the base lines, in the area where a ball is not fair.

   The line drive hooked foul at the last second, just missing a home run.

   The catcher chased the pop-up into foul territory and caught it near the dugout.

   UsageOften after a verb of movement: a ball goes foul or hooks foul.

   Oppositefair

   Note

   Baseball's naming has a trap in it: the foul lines and foul poles belong to fair territory. A ball that first lands on the chalk past first or third base is fair, a fly ball that strikes the pole above the fence is a home run, and foul ground begins just outside the line. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • The foul lines and foul poles belong to fair territory. en.wikipedia.org
   • Landing on the line before first or third base does not settle the decision: an untouched ball can subsequently roll foul before passing the base. First landing on the line beyond either base makes it fair. mktg.mlbstatic.com
   • A fly ball striking a foul pole above the fence is a home run. en.wikipedia.org
   • Foul ground begins outside the foul line. en.wikipedia.org
8. 8
   bad weatheradjective

   Of weather: wet, stormy, or otherwise unpleasant.

   Foul weather kept the fishing fleet in harbor for most of the week.

   The forecast calls for a foul night, with heavy rain and strong gusts along the coast.

   Similarstormy, bad, rough, inclement

   Oppositefair, fine

9. 9
   nouncountable

   Short for foul ball: a batted ball that goes outside the base lines.

   The catcher threw off his mask and chased a high foul toward the dugout.

   With two strikes, she hit four straight fouls before drawing a walk.

   Note

   Short as it is, the noun carries real rules: a foul usually counts against the batter as a strike, but it cannot complete a strikeout unless the batter was bunting. A foul caught on the fly is an out, just like a fair fly ball. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • An ordinary uncaught foul counts as a strike when the batter has fewer than two strikes. en.wikipedia.org
   • A foul ball can complete a strikeout when it is bunted foul with two strikes. mktg.mlbstatic.com
   • A legally caught foul fly retires the batter, as a legally caught fair fly does. littleleague.org
10. 10
    make dirtyverbtransitive

    To cause something to become dirty or unclean.

    Runoff from the hog farm fouled the creek for miles downstream.

    Owners who let their dogs foul the sidewalk can be fined.

    UsageOften a polite way to speak of dog or human waste (dogs fouling the park); the dirt follows with (fouled with mud).

    Similardirty, befoul

    Oppositeclean, purify

    Note

    The verb has its own line of descent, from Old English fūlian, which meant to become foul, to rot or decay. This sense turns that into something done to a thing.

11. 11
    clog upverbtransitive or intransitive

    To clog, block or otherwise obstruct something, such as a drain, a gun barrel or the path of a shot; also, to become clogged.

    A stalled truck fouled the track minutes before the express was due.

    Black-powder rifles foul quickly, so hunters carry a rod to clean the barrel.

    Similarblock, clog, obstruct, jam, choke

    Oppositeclear, unblock

    Note

    The sense covers anything that gets in the way, from hair in a drain to a warship in the line of fire. An aircraft that overshoots its runway onto a railway fouls the line; branches foul a shot, usually in the passive (nearly all shots were fouled by twigs). Without an object it means to clog up: a gun barrel fouls with use.

12. 12
    verbtransitive

    In baseball, to hit the ball so that it goes outside the base lines.

    Rodriguez fouled two fastballs into the stands before drawing a walk.

    Left-handed batters who swing late tend to foul the ball down the third-base line.

    UsageOften with off: to foul off pitch after pitch.

13. 13
    adjective

    Dirty, with filth on it or unclean matter in it.

    Workers pumped the foul water out of the flooded basement before the cleanup began.

    After months at sea, the hull was foul with weed and barnacles and had to be scraped.

    UsageWhat makes it dirty follows with: foul with mud, foul with weed.

    Similardirty, filthy, polluted, contaminated, unclean

    Oppositeclean, fresh

    Note

    Behind this sense lies a root meaning "to rot": Old English fūl already covered dirty, unclean, rotten and stinking. It still reaches well beyond mud and grime. Air can be foul, and so can water, and a ship's bottom is foul when barnacles have overgrown it. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Foul derives ultimately from a root referring to rotting. en.wiktionary.org
    • Old English fūl included the meanings dirty, unclean, rotten and stinking. en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    tangleverbtransitive or intransitive

    To tangle something such as a rope, an anchor or a boat's propeller; also, to become tangled.

    A drifting crab-pot line fouled the starboard propeller as we entered the harbor.

    Lower the anchor slowly, or the chain can foul the flukes and the anchor won't hold.

    UsageThe thing that tangles is usually the subject (weed fouls the propeller); in the passive, often fouled in kelp.

    Similartangle, entangle, snarl, catch

    Oppositeuntangle, disentangle

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