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foul up

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
foul  (foul)
adj. foul·er, foul·est
1. Offensive to the senses; revolting.
2. Having an offensive odor; smelly.
3. Rotten or putrid: foul meat.
4.
a. Full of dirt or mud; dirty. See Synonyms at dirty.
b. Full of impurities; polluted: foul air.
5. Morally detestable; wicked: foul deeds.
6. Of a vulgar or obscene nature: foul language.
7. Very disagreeable or displeasing; horrid: a foul movie.
8. Bad or unfavorable: in fair weather or foul.
9. Violating accepted standards or rules; dishonorable: used foul means to gain power.
10.
a. Sports Contrary to the rules of a game or sport: a foul boxing punch.
b. Baseball Outside the foul lines: a foul fly ball.
11. Entangled or twisted: a foul anchor.
12. Clogged or obstructed; blocked: a foul ventilator shaft.
13. Archaic Ugly; unattractive.
n.
1. Abbr. F
a. Sports An infraction or a violation of the rules of play.
b. Baseball A foul ball.
2. An entanglement or a collision.
3. An instance of clogging or obstructing.
adv.
In a foul manner.
v. fouled, foul·ing, fouls
v.tr.
1. To make dirty or foul; pollute. See Synonyms at contaminate.
2. To bring into dishonor; besmirch.
3. To clog or obstruct.
4. To entangle or catch (a rope, for example).
5. Nautical To encrust (a ship's hull) with foreign matter, such as barnacles.
6.
a. Sports To commit a foul against.
b. Baseball To hit (a ball) outside the foul lines.
v.intr.
1. To become foul.
2.
a. Sports To commit a foul.
b. Baseball To hit a ball outside the foul lines: fouled twice and then struck out; fouled out to the catcher.
3. To become entangled or twisted: The anchor line fouled on a rock.
4. To become clogged or obstructed.
Phrasal Verbs:
foul out
Sports To be put out of a game for exceeding the number of permissible fouls.
foul up
To blunder or cause to blunder because of mistakes or poor judgment.

[Middle English, from Old English fl; see p- in Indo-European roots.]

foully adv.
foulness n.

foul up
vb (adverb)
1. (tr) to bungle; mismanage
2. (tr) to make dirty; contaminate
3. to be or cause to be blocked, choked, or entangled
n foul-up
a state of confusion or muddle caused by bungling
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Verb1.foul up - make a mess of, destroy or ruin; "I botched the dinner and we had to eat out"; "the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement"
go wrong, miscarry, fail - be unsuccessful; "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably"
Translations
? foul up
vt sep (inf)versauen (inf)


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