Dictionary entry

Foul (3)

Webster's Dictionary 1913

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.