FOUL (2)

foul (2). Foul, ad. with great force or violence

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Foul (foul), a. [Compar. Fouler (–ẽr); superl. Foulest.] [[OE. foul, ful, AS. fūl; akin to D. vuil, G. faul rotten, OHG. fūl, Icel. fūl foul, fetid; Dan. fuul, Sw. ful foul, Goth. fūls fetid, Lith. puti to be putrid, L. putere to stink, be putrid, pus pus, Gr. πύον pus, to cause to rot, Skr. pūy to stink. √82. Cf. Defile to foul, File to foul, Filth, Pus, Putrid.]] 1. 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. 2. 2. Scurrilous; obscene or profane; abusive; as, foul words; foul language.
3. 3. Hateful; detestable; shameful; odious; wretched. “The foul with Sycorax.” Shak.
Who first seduced them to that foul revolt? Milton. 4. 4. Loathsome; disgusting; as, a foul disease.
5. 5. Ugly; homely; poor. Chaucer.
Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares. Shak. 6. 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. 7. 7. Not conformed to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc.; unfair; dishonest; dishonorable; cheating; as, foul play.
8. 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.
Foul anchor. (Naut.) See under Anchor. — Foul ball (Baseball), a ball that first strikes the ground outside of the foul ball lines, or rolls outside of certain limits. — Foul ball lines (Baseball), lines from the home base, through the first and third bases, to the boundary of the field. — Foul berth (Naut.), a berth in which a ship is in danger of fouling another vesel. — Foul bill, or Foul bill of health, 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. “Some writers boast of negligence, and others would be ashamed to show their foul copies.” Cowper. — Foul proof, an uncorrected proof; a proof containing an excessive quantity of errors. — Foul strike (Baseball), 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. “If they be any ways offended, they fall foul.” Burton. — To fall, or run, 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.