01 n. A bird.
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1.
A bird.[Obs.]
Entry
18 senses · 5 variants
Webster, 1913
Foul
/(foul)/
· IPA /faʊl/
02 a. Covered with, or containing, extraneous matter which is injurious, noxious, offensive, or obstructive; filthy; dirty; not clean; polluted; …
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1.
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.“My face is foul with weeping.” — Job. xvi. 16.
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2.
Scurrilous; obscene or profane; abusive; as, foul words; foul language.
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3.
Hateful; detestable; shameful; odious; wretched.“Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?” — Milton.
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4.
Loathsome; disgusting; as, a foul disease.
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5.
Ugly; homely; poor.[Obs.]“Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares.” — Shak.
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6.
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.“So foul a sky clears not without a storm.” — Shak.
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7.
Not conformed to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc.; unfair; dishonest; dishonorable; cheating; as, foul play.
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8.
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.
Phrases & compounds
Foul anchor —
See under Anchor.
Foul ball —
a ball that first strikes the ground outside of the foul ball lines, or rolls outside of certain limits.
Foul ball lines —
lines from the home base, through the first and third bases, to the boundary of the field.
Foul berth —
a berth in which a ship is in danger of fouling another vesel.
Foul bill —
a certificate, duly authenticated, that a ship has come from a place where a contagious disorder prevails, or that some of the crew are infected.
Foul copy —
a rough draught, with erasures and corrections; -- opposed to fair or clean copy.
Foul proof —
an uncorrected proof; a proof containing an excessive quantity of errors.
Foul strike —
a strike by the batsman when any part of his person is outside of the lines of his position.
To fall foul —
to fall out; to quarrel.
To fall foul of —
See under Fall.
To make foul water —
to sail in such shallow water that the ship's keel stirs the mud at the bottom.
03 v. t. To make filthy; to defile; to daub; to dirty; to soil; as, to foul the face or hands with mire.
imp. & p. p.
Fouled; p. pr. & vb. n.
Fouling
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1.
To make filthy; to defile; to daub; to dirty; to soil; as, to foul the face or hands with mire.
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2.
To incrust (the bore of a gun) with burnt powder in the process of firing.(Mil.)
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3.
To cover (a ship's bottom) with anything that impered its sailing; as, a bottom fouled with barnacles.
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4.
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.
04 v. i. To become clogged with burnt powder in the process of firing, as a gun.
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1.
To become clogged with burnt powder in the process of firing, as a gun.
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2.
To become entagled, as ropes; to come into collision with something; as, the two boats fouled.