catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  Foul \Foul\ (foul), a. [Compar. Fouler (-[~e]r); superl.
     Foulest.] [OE. foul, ful, AS. f[=u]l; akin to D. vuil, G.
     faul rotten, OHG. f[=u]l, Icel. f[=u]l foul, fetid; Dan.
     fuul, Sw. ful foul, Goth. f[=u]ls fetid, Lith. puti to be
     putrid, L. putere to stink, be putrid, pus pus, Gr. py`on
     pus, to cause to rot, Skr. p[=u]y to stink. [root]82. Cf.
     Defile to foul, File to foul, Filth, Pus, Putrid.]
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              My face is foul with weeping.         --Job. xvi.
                                                    16.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Scurrilous; obscene or profane; abusive; as, foul words;
        foul language.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Hateful; detestable; shameful; odious; wretched. ``The
        foul with Sycorax.'' --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?
                                                    --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Loathsome; disgusting; as, a foul disease.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. Ugly; homely; poor. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares.
                                                    --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              So foul a sky clears not without a storm. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     7. Not conformed to the established rules and customs of a
        game, conflict, test, etc.; unfair; dishonest;
        dishonorable; cheating; as, foul play.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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. [Obs.] ``If they be
        any ways offended, they fall foul.'' --Burton.
  
     To fall foul of or To 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.
        [1913 Webster]

  
  
     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. [Obs.] ``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.

  foul bill of health
     n.
     (lb en archaic) A bill of health that states that there is infectious
  disease present in either a ship, or its port of departure.

  foul bill of health
     n.
     (lb en archaic) A bill of health that states that there is infectious
  disease present in either a ship, or its port of departure.

  foul bill of health
     n.
     (lb en archaic) A bill of health that states that there is infectious
  disease present in either a ship, or its port of departure.

  foul bill of health
     n.
     (lb en archaic) A bill of health that states that there is infectious
  disease present in either a ship, or its port of departure.