foul

adjective

inappropriate or unfair act by a player, usually violating the rules of a sport or game

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noun

unfair act by a player in basketball

L320931 on Wikidata ↗

verb

make wrong

L331760 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /faʊl/ / /ˈfaʊ.əl/

adj

Etymology: Inherited from Middle English ffoul, foul, foull, fowel, fowle, fuyle, voul, vul, from Old English fūl (“foul, dirty, unclean, impure, vile, corrupt, rotten, stinking, guilty”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūl, from Proto-Germanic *fūlaz (“foul, rotten”), from Proto-Indo-European *puH- (“foul, rotten”). Cognates Cognate with Central Franconian fuul (“putrid, rotten; lazy, workshy”), Cimbrian baul, vaul (“putrid, rotten”), Dutch vuil (“dirty, foul; lewd, obscene; dishonorable; illegal”), German faul (“foul, putrid, rotten; lazy”), Yiddish פֿױל (foyl, “putrid; lazy”), Danish ful (“nasty, ugly”), Icelandic fúll (“foul, rotten, sullen”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk ful (“clever, sly”), and Swedish ful (“ugly; bad, dirty”), Gothic 𐍆𐌿𐌻𐍃 (fuls, “fetid, foul, putrid”), and through Indo-European, with Latin puter (“decaying, rotten; friable, crumbling”), Greek πύο (pýo), πύον (pýon, “pus”), Albanian fëlliq (“to make dirty, sully”), Latvian pūt (“to rot”), Lithuanian pūti (“to rot”), Armenian փուտ (pʻut, “rottenness”), Persian پوده (pude, “rubbed, worn; foul, rotten; empty, hollow”), Sanskrit पूयति (pūyati, “to become foul; to stink”). More at putrid. Ancient Greek φαῦλος (phaûlos, “bad”) is a false cognate inasmuch as it is not from the same etymon, instead being cognate to few.

Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty.
“This cloth is too foul to use as a duster.”
“His foul hands got dirt all over the kitchen.”
Obscene, vulgar or abusive.
“The rascal spewed forth a series of foul words.”
“His foul language causes many people to believe he is uneducated.”
Detestable, unpleasant, loathsome.
“He has a foul set of friends.”
“[…]Hast thou forgot / The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy / Was grown into a hoop? Hast thou forgot her?”
Disgusting, repulsive; causing disgust.
“This foul food is making me retch.”
“There was a foul smell coming from the toilet.”
Ugly; homely; poor.
“Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares.”
Unpleasant, stormy or rainy. (of the weather)
“Some foul weather is brewing.”
“So foul a sky clears not without a storm.”
Dishonest or not conforming to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc.
“Foul play is not suspected.”
Entangled and therefore restricting free movement, not clear.
“We've got a foul anchor.”
“A rope could get foul while it is being paid out.”
(with "of") Positioned on, in, or near enough to (a specified area) so as to obstruct it.
“The bus had stopped just foul of the north track at the Erindale Station Road public railway crossing […] With the bus stationary, but still foul of the north track, the train struck one of its front mirrors.”
“Ten of the freight train's wagons had derailed, two of them foul of the Down Fast. At 2308, the TPO struck one of them, causing the locomotive (86239) to jack-knife and turn so that it was almost touching the end wall of a house in The Russetts, a new-build row that sat close to the line.”
Outside of the base lines; in foul territory.
“Jones hit foul ball after foul ball.”

noun

Etymology: Inherited from Middle English foulen, fulen, from Old English fūlian (“to become foul; rot; decay”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūlēn, from Proto-Germanic *fūlāną (“to rot; decay”).

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 second Norwich goal in four minutes arrived after some dire Newcastle defending. Gosling gave the ball away with a sloppy back-pass, allowing Crofts to curl in a cross that the unmarked Morison powered in with a firm, 12-yard header. Gosling's plight worsened when he was soon shown a red card for a foul on Martin.”
“Even though we were swept, we did outstat the Fast Breakers in one category: they had six technical fouls for the series (three for Bibby, two for Matthews, and one for Shouse), and we totaled nine (three each for Mannion and me, one each for Jose Slaughter, Lewis, and Lamp).”
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.
“Jones hit a foul up over the screen.”

verb

To make dirty.
“to foul the face or hands with mire”
“She's fouled her diaper.”
To besmirch.
“He's fouled his reputation.”
To obstruct, block, or otherwise interfere with (something), for example by clogging (a drain, gun barrel, chimney, etc) or by being in the way of (a gunshot, etc).
“The hair has fouled the drain.”
“The recent opening of the bridge at the south end of Lincoln Station has enabled trains to take water there without fouling the level crossings at both ends of the platforms.”
To entangle.
“The kelp has fouled the prop.”
“The Indian's heart was sore for his boat; it looked as if nothing could save her. She was drifting more slowly now, her propeller fouled in kelp.”
To make make a play, such as a strong contact with an opposing player in order to gain advantage, that is deemed by the referee to have contravened the rules.
“Smith fouled him hard.”
“The Gunners dominated for long periods but, against the run of play, Denilson fouled Max Gradel and Robert Snodgrass put Leeds ahead from the spot.”
To commit a foul.
“Smith fouled within the first minute of the quarter.”
“State begins fouling and UCLA misses a couple of front-end free throws on one-and-ones.”
To hit outside of the baselines.
“Jones fouled the ball off the facing of the upper deck.”
To hit a ball outside of the baselines.
“Jones fouled for strike one.”
To become clogged.
“The drain fouled.”
To become entangled.
“The prop fouled on the kelp.”
To come into contact or collide with.
“The full capacity, however, requires a hopper of a size that takes the wagon body up to 11ft 11½in above rail level, which would foul many existing colliery screens.”