foul

Meanings

Adjective

• Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty.
• obscene, vulgar or abusive.
• Detestable, unpleasant, loathsome.
• Disgusting, repulsive; causing disgust.
• Ugly; homely; poor.
• Unpleasant, stormy or rainy.
• Dishonest or not conforming to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc.
• Entangled and therefore restricting free movement, not clear.
• (with "of") Positioned on, in, or near enough to (a specified area) so as to obstruct it.
• Outside of the base lines; in foul territory.

Verb

• To make dirty.
• To besmirch.
• To clog or obstruct.
• To entangle.
• To make contact with an opposing player in order to gain advantage.
• To hit outside of the baselines.
• To become clogged.
• To become entangled.
• To commit a foul.
• To hit a ball outside of the baselines.

Noun

• A breach of the rules of a game, especially one involving inappropriate contact with an opposing player in order to gain an advantage; for example, tripping someone up in soccer, or contact of any kind in basketball.
• A (usually accidental) contact between a bowler and the lane before the bowler has released the ball.
• A foul ball, a ball which has been hit outside of the base lines.

Related

Similar words

• shameful; odious; wretched

Origin

• From Middle English foul, from Old English fūl ("foul, unclean, impure, vile, corrupt, rotten, guilty"), from Proto-Germanic *fūlaz ("foul, rotten"), from Proto-Indo-European *puH- ("to rot"). Cognate with Dutch vuil ("foul"), German faul ("rotten, putrid"), Danish and Swedish ful ("foul"), and through Indo-European, with Albanian fëlliq ("to make dirty"), Latin puter ("rotten"). More at putrid.
• Ancient Greek φαῦλος ("bad") is a false cognate inasmuch as it is not from the same etymon, instead being cognate to few.
• From Middle English foulen, fulen, from Old English fūlian, from Proto-Germanic *fūlāną.