\Foul\ (foul), n. [See {Fowl}.]
A bird. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

\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.
         My face is foul with weeping.         --Job. xvi.
                                               16.
2. Scurrilous; obscene or profane; abusive; as, foul words;
   foul language.
3. Hateful; detestable; shameful; odious; wretched. ``The
   foul with Sycorax.'' --Shak.
         Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?
                                               --Milton.
4. Loathsome; disgusting; as, a foul disease.
5. Ugly; homely; poor. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
         Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares.
                                               --Shak.
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. Not conformed to the established rules and customs of a
   game, conflict, test, etc.; unfair; dishonest;
   dishonorable; cheating; as, foul play.
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. [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\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Fouled}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Fouling}.]
1. To make filthy; to defile; to daub; to dirty; to soil; as,
   to foul the face or hands with mire.
2. (Mil.) To incrust (the bore of a gun) with burnt powder in
   the process of firing.
3. To cover (a ship's bottom) with anything that impered its
   sailing; as, a bottom fouled with barnacles.
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.

\Foul\, v. i.
1. To become clogged with burnt powder in the process of
   firing, as a gun.
2. To become entagled, as ropes; to come into collision with
   something; as, the two boats fouled.

\Foul\, n.
1. An entanglement; a collision, as in a boat race.
2. (Baseball) See {Foul ball}, under {Foul}, a.

\Foul\, n.
In various games or sports, an act done contrary to the
rules; a foul stroke, hit, play, or the like.