Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Offensive to the senses; disgusting: Describes something that has a very unpleasant smell, taste, or appearance.
   • Morally offensive; wicked: Describes actions, language, or thoughts that are considered very bad, unfair, or against accepted standards.
   • Containing dirt or impurities; polluted: Describes something that is dirty, contaminated, or not clean.
   • In sports, violating the rules: Describes an action in a game that is illegal or against the rules.
   • Unpleasant or stormy: Describes bad weather conditions.
   • Clogged or entangled: Describes something that is blocked or tangled.

2. Noun:

   • An action in sports that breaks the rules: An illegal move or play in a game.
   • Something offensive or disgusting: An instance of something being foul.

3. Verb:

   • To make dirty or polluted: To contaminate or soil something.
   • To commit a foul in sports: To break the rules of a game.
   • To become clogged or entangled: To become blocked or tangled.
   • To hit a foul ball in baseball: To hit the ball outside the legal playing area.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:

  • There was a foul odor coming from the drain.
  • He was accused of using foul means to win the election.
  • The factory was fined for dumping waste into the foul water.
  • The referee called a foul on the defender.
  • We had to cancel the picnic due to foul weather.

• Noun:

  • The player was ejected after committing a flagrant foul.
  • The air in the room was a foul.

• Verb:

  • Industrial chemicals have fouled the river.
  • The basketball player fouled his opponent while trying to steal the ball.
  • The anchor line fouled on the rocks.
  • The batter fouled the pitch into the stands.

Advanced Usage

• "to cry foul": To complain that something is unfair or dishonest.
  • The losing team cried foul, claiming the referee was biased.
• "by fair means or foul": Using any method possible, whether honest or dishonest.
  • He was determined to win the contract by fair means or foul.
• "foul play": Unlawful or violent activity, especially murder.
  • The police suspected foul play in his disappearance.

Variants and Related Words

• Foully (adverb): In a wicked or disgraceful manner.
  • He was foully murdered.
• Foulness (noun): The state or quality of being foul.
  • The foulness of the air made it hard to breathe.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Disgusting, filthy, nasty, polluted, dirty, offensive, putrid, rotten, unfair, illegal.
• Verb: Contaminate, pollute, soil, dirty, clog, entangle.
• Noun: Infraction, violation.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Foul up (verb): To make a mistake; to cause something to fail or become confused.
  • I completely fouled up the presentation by forgetting my notes.
  • A computer error fouled up the payroll system.

Related Idioms

• Fall foul of (someone/something): To come into conflict with or get into trouble with a person, rule, or law.
  • The company fell foul of new environmental regulations.
• Foul one's own nest: To damage one's own reputation, home, or interests through one's actions.
  • By spreading rumors about his colleagues, he was just fouling his own nest.

Adjective

1. especially of a ship's lines etc
   • with its sails afoul
   • a foul anchor
2. disgustingly dirty; filled or smeared with offensive matter
   • as filthy as a pigsty
   • a foul pond
   • a nasty pigsty of a room
3. characterized by obscenity
   • had a filthy mouth
   • foul language
   • smutty jokes
4. (of a manuscript) defaced with changes
   • foul (or dirty) copy
5. (of a baseball) not hit between the foul lines
6. violating accepted standards or rules
   • a dirty fighter
   • used foul means to gain power
   • a nasty unsporting serve
   • fined for unsportsmanlike behavior
7. offensively malodorous
   • a foul odor
   • the kitchen smelled really funky
8. highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust
   • a disgusting smell
   • distasteful language
   • a loathsome disease
   • the idea of eating meat is repellent to me
   • revolting food
   • a wicked stench

Noun

1. an act that violates the rules of a sport

Verb

1. become soiled and dirty
2. make unclean
   • foul the water
3. spot, stain, or pollute
   • The townspeople defiled the river by emptying raw sewage into it
4. commit a foul; break the rules
5. become or cause to become obstructed
   • The leaves clog our drains in the Fall
   • The water pipe is backed up
6. make impure
   • The industrial wastes polluted the lake
7. hit a foul ball