foul

adjective

/faʊl/

(comparative fouler, superlative foulest)

Idioms

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dirty and smelling bad肮脏恶臭的；难闻的
- foul air/breath污浊难闻的空气／气息
- a foul-smelling prison臭烘烘的监狱
- Foul drinking water was blamed for the epidemic.人们把这次的流行病归咎于污浊的饮用水。
Synonyms disgusting
disgusting
- foul
- revolting
- repulsive
- offensive
- gross
These words all describe something, especially a smell, taste or habit, that is extremely unpleasant and often makes you feel slightly ill.
- disgusting extremely unpleasant and making you feel slightly ill:
  What a disgusting smell!这气味真难闻！
- foul dirty, and tasting or smelling bad:
  She could smell his foul breath.她闻得到他的口臭。
- revolting extremely unpleasant and making you feel slightly ill:
  The stew looked revolting.这煨菜看上去令人作呕。
disgusting or revolting?用 disgusting 还是 revolting？Both of these words are used to describe things that smell and taste unpleasant, unpleasant personal habits and people who have them. There is no real difference in meaning, but disgusting is more frequent, especially in spoken English.
- repulsive (rather formal) extremely unpleasant in a way that offends you or makes you feel slightly ill. 指使人厌恶的、令人反感的、十分讨厌的Repulsive usually describes people, their behaviour or habits, which you may find offensive for physical or moral reasons.
- offensive (formal) (especially of smells) extremely unpleasant.
- gross (informal) (of a smell, taste or personal habit) extremely unpleasant.
Patterns
- disgusting/repulsive/offensive to somebody
- to find somebody/something disgusting/revolting/repulsive/offensive
- to smell/taste disgusting/foul/gross
- a(n) disgusting/foul/revolting/offensive/gross smell
- a disgusting/revolting/gross habit
- disgusting/offensive/gross behaviour
- a disgusting/revolting/repulsive man/woman/person
Extra Examples
- She could smell his foul breath.她闻得到他的口臭。
- The air in the cell was foul.牢房里的空气臭烘烘的。
(especially British English) very unpleasant; very bad很令人不快的；很坏的
- She's in a foul mood.她的情绪很糟。
- His boss has a foul temper.他的老板脾气很坏。
- This tastes foul.这个味道很差。
(of language语言) including rude words and swearing充满脏话的；辱骂性的；下流的 synonym offensive
- She exploded in a torrent of foul language.她滔滔不绝地说着脏话。
- I'm sick of her foul mouth (= habit of swearing).我讨厌她一开口就骂人的那张臭嘴。
- He called her the foulest names imaginable.他用最下流的话辱骂她。
(of weather天气) very bad, with strong winds and rain恶劣的；风雨交加的
- a foul night风雨交加的夜晚
Topics Weatherc2
(literary) very evil or cruel邪恶的；残忍的 synonym abominable
- a foul crime/murder邪恶的罪行；恶毒的谋杀
[only before noun] (British English) done against the rules of a sport犯规
- Harper was penalized for a foul tackle.哈珀因犯规铲球而受到处罚。

Word OriginOld English fūl, of Germanic origin; related to Old Norse fúll ‘foul’, Dutch vuil ‘dirty’, and German faul ‘rotten, lazy’, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin pus, Greek puos ‘pus’, and Latin putere ‘to stink’.

Idioms

by fair means or foul

using dishonest methods if honest ones do not work不择手段
- She’s determined to win, by fair means or foul.她决心要赢，那怕是不择手段。

cry foul

(informal) to complain that somebody else has done something wrong or unfair抱怨；埋怨

fall foul of somebody/something

to get into trouble with a person or an organization because of doing something wrong or illegal（因做错事或不法行为）与…发生麻烦，与…产生纠葛，冒犯
- to fall foul of the law触犯了法律

foul

verb

/faʊl/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they foul	/faʊl/ /faʊl/
he / she / it fouls	/faʊlz/ /faʊlz/
past simple fouled	/faʊld/ /faʊld/
past participle fouled	/faʊld/ /faʊld/
-ing form fouling	/ˈfaʊlɪŋ/ /ˈfaʊlɪŋ/

Phrasal Verbs

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[transitive] foul somebody (in sport体育运动) to do something to another player that is against the rules of the game对（对手）犯规
- He was fouled inside the penalty area.在禁区内对方队员对他犯规。
Topics Sports: ball and racket sportsc1
[intransitive, transitive] foul (something) (in baseball棒球) to hit the ball outside the playing area击（球）出界Topics Sports: ball and racket sportsc1
[transitive] foul something to make something dirty, especially with waste matter from the body（尤指用粪便）弄脏，污染
- Do not permit your dog to foul the grass.禁止狗在草地便溺。
- More and more beaches are being fouled by oil leakages.越来越多的海滩被漏油污染了。
[transitive, intransitive] to become caught or twisted in something and stop it working or moving（被）缠住
- foul something (up) The rope fouled the propeller.绳索缠住了螺旋桨。
- The line became fouled in (= became twisted in) the propeller.缆绳缠在螺旋桨上了。
- foul (up) A rope fouled up (= became twisted) as we pulled the sail down.我们收帆时有一根绳索缠住了。

foul

noun

/faʊl/

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(in sport体育运动) an action that is against the rules of the game犯规
- It was a clear foul by Ford on the goalkeeper.这明显是福特对守门员犯规。
- (North American English) to hit a foul (= in baseball, a ball that is too far left or right, outside the lines that mark the side of the field)（棒球）击球出界
see also professional foul, technical foul
Extra Examples
- He drew a fourth foul on Camby.他第四次对康比犯规。
- He was sent off for a blatant foul on Giggs.他因对吉格斯的一次公然犯规而被罚下场。
- The referee did not call a foul on the player.裁判没有吹哨判那名球员犯规。
Topics Sports: ball and racket sportsc1
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- blatant
- clear
- deliberate
- …
verb + foul
- commit
- draw
- call
- …
preposition
- foul on
See full entry
Word OriginOld English fūl, of Germanic origin; related to Old Norse fúll ‘foul’, Dutch vuil ‘dirty’, and German faul ‘rotten, lazy’, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin pus, Greek puos ‘pus’, and Latin putere ‘to stink’.