Meaning of 'foul' (Webster Dictionary)
- A bird.
- An entanglement; a collision, as in a boat race.
- See Foul ball, under Foul, a.
- Covered with, or containing, extraneous matter which is
injurious, noxious, offensive, or obstructive; filthy; dirty; not
clean; polluted; nasty; defiled; as, a foul cloth; foul hands; a foul
chimney; foul air; a ship's bottom is foul when overgrown with
barnacles; a gun becomes foul from repeated firing; a well is foul with
polluted water.
- Scurrilous; obscene or profane; abusive; as, foul words;
foul language.
- Hateful; detestable; shameful; odious; wretched.
- Loathsome; disgusting; as, a foul disease.
- Ugly; homely; poor.
- Not favorable; unpropitious; not fair or advantageous;
as, a foul wind; a foul road; cloudy or rainy; stormy; not fair; --
said of the weather, sky, etc.
- Not conformed to the established rules and customs of a
game, conflict, test, etc.; unfair; dishonest; dishonorable; cheating;
as, foul play.
- Having freedom of motion interfered with by collision or
entanglement; entangled; -- opposed to clear; as, a rope or cable may
get foul while paying it out.
- To become clogged with burnt powder in the process of
firing, as a gun.
- To become entagled, as ropes; to come into collision with
something; as, the two boats fouled.
- To make filthy; to defile; to daub; to dirty; to soil; as,
to foul the face or hands with mire.
- To incrust (the bore of a gun) with burnt powder in the
process of firing.
- To cover (a ship's bottom) with anything that impered its
sailing; as, a bottom fouled with barnacles.
- To entangle, so as to impede motion; as, to foul a rope or
cable in paying it out; to come into collision with; as, one boat
fouled the other in a race.
Meaning of 'foul' (Princeton's WordNet)
Meaning (1):
- make unclean
Meaning (2):
- make impure
Example in sentence:- The industrial wastes polluted the lake
Meaning (3):
- become or cause to become obstructed
Example in sentence:- The leaves clog our drains in the Fall;
- The water pipe is backed up
Meaning (4):
- spot, stain, or pollute
Example in sentence:- The townspeople defiled the river by emptying raw sewage into it
Meaning (5):
- violating accepted standards or rules
Example in sentence:- a dirty fighter;
- a nasty unsporting serve;
- fined for unsportsmanlike behavior;
- used foul means to gain power
Meaning (6):
- highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust
Example in sentence:- a disgusting smell;
- a loathsome disease;
- a wicked stench;
- distasteful language;
- revolting food;
- the idea of eating meat is repellent to me
Meaning (7):
- especially of a ship's lines etc
Example in sentence:- a foul anchor;
- with its sails afoul
Meaning (8):
- offensively malodorous
Example in sentence:- a foul odor;
- the kitchen smelled really funky
Meaning (9):
- disgustingly dirty; filled or smeared with offensive matter
Example in sentence:- a foul pond;
- a nasty pigsty of a room;
- as filthy as a pigsty
Meaning (10):
- (of a manuscript) defaced with changes
Meaning (11):
- characterized by obscenity
Example in sentence:- foul language;
- had a filthy mouth;
- smutty jokes
Definition
[ n.]