# foul

Pronunciation: say "FOWL" /faʊl/

## Noun

1. An act that breaks the rules of a game, especially illegal contact with an opposing player, such as tripping someone in soccer.
   - Simple: Something a player does that is against the rules of a game, like tripping or pushing another player.
   - _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._
9. Short for foul ball: a batted ball that goes outside the base lines.
   - Simple: In baseball, a ball that is hit 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._
15. In bowling, an instance of the bowler touching the lane, usually by accident, during or after the delivery of the ball.
   - Simple: In bowling, touching the lane, usually by mistake, during or after a throw.
   - _All ten pins went down, but the strike didn't count because the sensor called a foul when her shoe slid over the line._
   - _Bowlers who rush their approach tend to rack up fouls in league play._

## Adjective

2. So nasty that it fills people with disgust or revulsion.
   - Simple: So nasty that it makes you feel sick or disgusted.
   - _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._
4. Of words or speech: crude, obscene, or insulting.
   - Simple: Of words or the way someone talks: rude, dirty, or meant to hurt.
   - _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._
5. Involving cheating or deceit, or going against the accepted rules and customs of a game, a fight, a test, or the like.
   - Simple: Not honest, or against the rules of a game or a test.
   - _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._
6. 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.
   - Simple: Very bad or unpleasant, so that people hate it. A foul mood is an angry, grumpy one.
   - _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._
7. Of a batted ball or a part of a baseball field: outside the base lines, in the area where a ball is not fair.
   - Simple: In baseball, outside the two long lines that run out from home plate.
   - _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._
8. Of weather: wet, stormy, or otherwise unpleasant.
   - Simple: Of weather: bad, with rain or storms.
   - _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._
13. Dirty, with filth on it or unclean matter in it.
   - Simple: Dirty, with dirt or waste on it or mixed into 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._
18. Of a rope, anchor or other gear, tangled up so that it cannot move or run freely.
   - Simple: Tangled up so that it cannot move freely, like a rope or an anchor on a boat.
   - _With the halyard foul at the top of the mast, nobody could lower the sail._
   - _A foul anchor is likely to drag once the wind picks up._
20. Placed on, in or close enough to a given area, such as a railroad track, to obstruct it; used with of.
   - Simple: On or so close to a place, like a train track, that it is in the way.
   - _Investigators found that the truck's trailer had been left foul of the main line when the freight train arrived._
   - _Cars on a siding must be stopped clear of the switch, never foul of the next track._

## Verb

3. 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.
   - Simple: To break a rule of the game, often by pushing, hitting or tripping a player from the other team.
   - _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._
10. To cause something to become dirty or unclean.
   - Simple: To make something dirty, for example with mud or waste.
   - _Runoff from the hog farm fouled the creek for miles downstream._
   - _Owners who let their dogs foul the sidewalk can be fined._
11. To clog, block or otherwise obstruct something, such as a drain, a gun barrel or the path of a shot; also, to become clogged.
   - Simple: To block something or get in its way, or to become blocked.
   - _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._
12. In baseball, to hit the ball so that it goes outside the base lines.
   - Simple: In baseball, to hit the ball outside the two long lines that run out from home plate.
   - _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._
14. To tangle something such as a rope, an anchor or a boat's propeller; also, to become tangled.
   - Simple: To get a rope, chain or boat part caught and tangled, or 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._
16. To damage the good name or honor of someone or something, as if staining it.
   - Simple: To spoil the good name of a person or thing.
17. To touch or knock against something, or to run into it.
   - Simple: To touch or hit something, or crash into it.
   - _The ferry swung wide in the current and fouled the end of the pier._
   - _The new freight cars are taller, and their loads would foul several old bridges on the branch line._

## Adjective

19. Ugly or plain in appearance, or of low quality. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Not good to look at, or of poor quality.

## Origin

**Meanings 2, 4–8, 13, 18–20** — Inherited from Middle English foul, from Old English fūl (“dirty, unclean, rotten, stinking”), from Proto-Germanic *fūlaz (“foul, rotten”) and ultimately Proto-Indo-European *puH- (“to rot”). It is related to Dutch vuil, German faul and Swedish ful, and more distantly to Latin puter (“rotten”).
**Meanings 1, 3, 9–12, 14–17** — This goes back to Old English fūlian (“to become foul; to rot or decay”), which became foulen or fulen in Middle English. The Old English verb has a Proto-Germanic source, *fūlāną (“to rot; decay”).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/foul (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).