foul

foul
1 adjective
1 SMELL/TASTE a foul smell or taste is very unpleasant: I gulped down some water to take the foul taste out of my mouth. | foul-tasting/foul-smelling: The bags of garbage had been piled up in a foul-smelling heap.
2 in a foul mood/temper especially BrE in a very bad mood and likely to get angry: He's in a foul mood today, isn't he?
3 UNPLEASANT especially BrE very unpleasant: I've had an absolutely foul day.
4 AIR/WATER very dirty: The water in the harbour was foul with oil.
5 foul language rude and offensive words: I've never heard such foul language in all my life!
6 WEATHER especially BrE if the weather is foul, it is stormy and windy, with a lot of rain or snow
7 EVIL especially literary evil or cruel: foul deeds
—see also: by fair means or foul fair 1 (13), fall foul of fall 1 (28) — foully adverb — foulness noun (U) 2 verb
1 (I, T)
a) if a player fouls in a game of sport, or fouls another player, they do something that is not allowed by the rules: An Everton player had been fouled in the penalty area.
b) to hit a ball outside the limit of the playing area in baseball: On average, most batters foul at least one ball in each at bat.
2 formal to make something very dirty, especially with waste: A thick column of black smoke rose from the wreck, fouling the air.
3 also foul up (I, T) if a rope, chain, or part of a machine fouls or if something fouls it, it twists or cannot move properly: Check that nothing can foul the moving parts.
foul up phrasal verb informal
1 (transitive foul something up) to spoil something: The weather really fouled up our vacation plans.
2 (intransitive, transitive foul something up) to do something wrong or spoil something by making mistakes: Glen completely fouled up the seating arrangements.
3 noun (C) an action in a sport that is against the rules: That was a foul - he touched the ball with his hand!

Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.

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  • Foul — (foul), a. [Compar. Fouler ( [ e]r); superl. {Foulest}.] [OE. foul, ful, AS. f[=u]l; akin to D. vuil, G. faul rotten, OHG. f[=u]l, Icel. f[=u]l foul, fetid; Dan. fuul, Sw. ful foul, Goth. f[=u]ls fetid, Lith. puti to be putrid, L. putere to stink …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • foul — [foul] adj. [ME < OE ful, akin to Ger faul, rotten, lazy < IE base * pū , * pu , to stink (< ? exclamation of disgust) > L putere, to rot, Gr pyon, PUS] 1. so offensive to the senses as to cause disgust; stinking; loathsome [a foul… …   English World dictionary

  • Foul — may refer to:*Foul (sports), an unfair or illegal sports act, including: **Foul (football), in football (soccer), an unfair act by a player as deemed by the referee **Professional foul, in football (soccer) or rugby, a deliberate act of foul play …   Wikipedia

  • foul — 〈[ faʊl] Adj.; nur präd. u. adv.; Sp.〉 regelwidrig, unfair, unsportlich [engl., „schmutzig, unrein, faul“] * * * foul [fa̮ul ] <Adj.> [engl. foul, eigtl. = schmutzig; hässlich, verw. mit ↑ faul] (Sport): regelwidrig, unfair, unsportlich …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Foul — 〈[ faʊl] n. 15; Sp.〉 Verstoß gegen die (allgemein anerkannten) Spielregeln [engl., „etwas Unreines, regelwidriger Schlag od. Stoß beim Sport“] * * * foul [fa̮ul ] <Adj.> [engl. foul, eigtl. = schmutzig; hässlich, verw. mit ↑ faul] (Sport):… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • foul — »regelwidrig«: Aus England, dem Mutterland des Fußballsports, wurde im 20. Jh. eine Reihe von Ausdrücken der Fußballersprache entlehnt. Die meisten davon wurden allerdings später durch Lehnübersetzungen ersetzt (beachte z. B. Aus ‹↑ aus› für engl …   Das Herkunftswörterbuch

  • Foul — »regelwidrig«: Aus England, dem Mutterland des Fußballsports, wurde im 20. Jh. eine Reihe von Ausdrücken der Fußballersprache entlehnt. Die meisten davon wurden allerdings später durch Lehnübersetzungen ersetzt (beachte z. B. Aus ‹↑ aus› für engl …   Das Herkunftswörterbuch

  • foul — [adj1] disgusting, dirty abhorrent, abominable, base, contaminated, despicable, detestable, disgraceful, dishonorable, egregious, fetid, filthy, gross*, hateful, heinous, horrid, icky*, impure, infamous, iniquitous, loathsome, malodorous, mucky* …   New thesaurus

  • Foul — Foul, n. 1. An entanglement; a collision, as in a boat race. [1913 Webster] 2. (Baseball) See {Foul ball}, under {Foul}, a. [1913 Webster] 3. In various games or sports, an act done contrary to the rules; a foul stroke, hit, play, or the like.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Foul — [faul] das; s, s; Sport; (besonders bei Mannschaftsspielen) eine unsportliche und unerlaubte Behinderung des Gegners <ein böses, grobes, harmloses Foul; ein verstecktes Foul; ein Foul an jemandem begehen>: Der Schiedsrichter ahndete das… …   Langenscheidt Großwörterbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache

  • foul — foul, foully The normal adverb from foul is foully (pronounced with both ls): • Jerome had done foully, but not so foully as he himself and all here believed Ellis Peters, 1993. The older form foul survives in the quasi adverbial expressions foul …   Modern English usage

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