foul
/faʊl/ adjective B2- 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.
- Detestable, unpleasant, loathsome. · He has a foul set of friends.
- Disgusting, repulsive; causing disgust. · This foul food is making me retch.· There was a foul smell coming from the toilet.
- Unpleasant, stormy or rainy. (of the weather) · Some foul weather is brewing.
- 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.
Comparative fouler · Superlative foulest
Phrasal verbs and expressions
From the library
‘Foul deeds will rise,
Now, Moran undoubtedly played foul—of that I have long been aware.
He therefore murdered Adair, who at the time was endeavouring to work out how much money he should himself return, since he could not profit by his partner’s foul play.
Often it was only the smallest trace, Watson, the faintest indication, and yet it was enough to tell me that the great malignant brain was there, as the gentlest tremors of the edges of the web remind one of the foul spider which lurks in the centre.
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