/faʊl; faul/
adj
1 having a bad smell or taste; dirty and disgusting 难闻的; 有恶味的; 污秽的; 令人厌恶的
*foul stagnant ponds 臭烘烘的死水塘
* a foul rubbish dump 又脏又臭的垃圾堆
* This medicine tastes foul! 这药味让人恶心!
2 (a) unpleasant; dreadful 不愉快的; 可怕的
*`Go away! I've had a foul day at work.' ｀走开! 我干了一天活儿够受的了.＇
* His boss has a foul temper. 他的老板的脾气很坏.
(b) evil or wicked 邪恶的; 罪恶的
*a foul crime 邪恶的罪行.
3 (of language) obscene and offensive; full of swear-words （指语言）猥亵的, 无礼的; 充满脏话的.
4 (of weather) very rainy and windy; stormy or rough （指天气）风雨大作的, 暴风雨的, 恶劣的
*The spring was foul this year it was cold and wet for weeks. 今春天气恶劣--一连几个星期又冷又潮湿.
5 (sport 体) (of an action) against the rules; unfair （指动作）犯规的, 不正当的
*a foul stroke 犯规的一击.
6 (of a chimney, pipe, etc) blocked with waste, etc so that nothing can pass through （指烟囱、管道等）不通畅的, 阻塞的.
7 (idm 习语) by fair means or foul => fair1.fall foul of sb/sth have a confrontation or disagreement with sb/sth, esp the government or the authorities 与某人[某事物]冲突或不一致（尤指与政府或当局）
*The police never caught him in any criminal activity but he eventually fell foul of the tax authorities. 警方从未当场见到他有犯罪活动, 但他最终却与税务局惹上了官非.

n (sport 体) action that is against the rules of a game （比赛中的）犯规行为
*That last foul (against/on Smith) lost us the match. 最後那次（对史密斯）犯规使我们输了那场比赛.

/faʊl; faul/
v
1 [Tn, Tn.p] ~ sth (up) make sth dirty 弄脏某物
*Dogs are not permitted to foul (ie excrete on) the pavement. 禁止狗在人行道上便溺.
* The factories are responsible for fouling up the air for miles around. 这些工厂造成了很大范围的空气污染.
2 [I, Ip, Tn, Tn.p] ~ (sth) (up) (cause sth to) become caught or twisted (in sth) （使某物）缠结; （与某物）缠住
*The ropes have fouled (up). 绳子缠住了.
* My fishing-line got fouled (up) in an old net. 我的钓丝跟旧鱼网缠在一起了.
3 [I, Tn] (sport 体) commit a foul against (another player) （对运动员）犯规
*He fouled the same player again in the second half. 他在下半场对同一运动员再次犯规.
4 (idm 习语) foul one's (own) nest bring disgrace, etc to one's home, family, profession, country, etc （给自己的家庭、家人、职业、国家等）带来耻辱等.
5 (phr v) foul sth up (infml 口) spoil sth, usu by behaving in a thoughtless or foolish way; mess sth up 弄乱某事物（通常因粗心或愚蠢的行为所致）; 搞糟
*Everything was just fine until Fred came along and fouled things up. 本来一切都井井有条, 弗雷德一来就给搞得乱七八糟.
* The weather has really fouled up my holiday plans. 我的假日安排因天气关系已全部打乱了.