| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| foul |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  foul |
| ADJECTIVE: | Inflected forms: foul·er, foul·est
1. Offensive to the senses; revolting. 2. Having an offensive odor; smelly. 3. Rotten or putrid: foul meat. 4a. Full of dirt or mud; dirty. See synonyms at dirty. b. Full of impurities; polluted: foul air. 5. Morally detestable; wicked: foul deeds. 6. Of a vulgar or obscene nature: foul language. 7. Very disagreeable or displeasing; horrid: a foul movie. 8. Bad or unfavorable: in fair weather or foul. 9. Violating accepted standards or rules; dishonorable: used foul means to gain power. 10a. Sports Contrary to the rules of a game or sport: a foul boxing punch. b. Baseball Outside the foul lines: a foul fly ball. 11. Entangled or twisted: a foul anchor. 12. Clogged or obstructed; blocked: a foul ventilator shaft. 13. Archaic Ugly; unattractive. | | NOUN: | 1. abbr. F a. Sports An infraction or a violation of the rules of play. b. Baseball A foul ball. 2. An entanglement or a collision. 3. An instance of clogging or obstructing. | | ADVERB: | In a foul manner. | | VERB: | Inflected forms: fouled, foul·ing, fouls
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To make dirty or foul; pollute. See synonyms at contaminate. 2. To bring into dishonor; besmirch. 3. To clog or obstruct. 4. To entangle or catch (a rope, for example). 5. Nautical To encrust (a ship's hull) with foreign matter, such as barnacles. 6a. Sports To commit a foul against. b. Baseball To hit (a ball) outside the foul lines. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To become foul. 2a. Sports To commit a foul. b. Baseball To hit a ball outside the foul lines: fouled twice and then struck out; fouled out to the catcher. 3. To become entangled or twisted: The anchor line fouled on a rock. 4. To become clogged or obstructed. | | PHRASAL VERBS: | foul out Sports To be put out of a game for exceeding the number of permissible fouls. foul up To blunder or cause to blunder because of mistakes or poor judgment. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old English f l. See p - in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | foul ly —ADVERB
foulness —NOUN
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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