Meaning & Definition of Foul in English

1. An act that violates the rules of a sport

1. Hit a foul ball

2. Make impure

• "The industrial wastes polluted the lake"

3. Become or cause to become obstructed

• "The leaves clog our drains in the fall"

• "The water pipe is backed up"

4. Commit a foul

• Break the rules

5. Spot, stain, or pollute

• "The townspeople defiled the river by emptying raw sewage into it"

6. Make unclean

• "Foul the water"

7. Become soiled and dirty

1. 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"

2. Offensively malodorous

• "A foul odor"

• "The kitchen smelled really funky"

3. Violating accepted standards or rules

• "A dirty fighter"

• "Used foul means to gain power"

• "A nasty unsporting serve"

• "Fined for unsportsmanlike behavior"

4. (of a baseball) not hit between the foul lines

5. (of a manuscript) defaced with changes

• "Foul (or dirty) copy"

6. Characterized by obscenity

• "Had a filthy mouth"

• "Foul language"

• "Smutty jokes"

7. Disgustingly dirty

• Filled or smeared with offensive matter

• "As filthy as a pigsty"

• "A foul pond"

• "A nasty pigsty of a room"

8. Especially of a ship's lines etc

• "With its sails afoul"

• "A foul anchor"