befoul


Also found in: Thesaurus.

be·foul

 (bĭ-foul′)
tr.v. be·fouled, be·foul·ing, be·fouls
1. To make dirty; soil. See Synonyms at contaminate.
2. To cast aspersions upon; speak badly of.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

befoul

(bɪˈfaʊl)
vb
(tr) to make dirty or foul; soil; defile
beˈfouler n
beˈfoulment n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

be•foul

(bɪˈfaʊl)

v.t.
to make dirty or filthy; soil; defile.
[1275–1325]
be•foul′er, n.
be•foul′ment, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

befoul


Past participle: befouled
Gerund: befouling

Imperative
befoul
befoul
Present
I befoul
you befoul
he/she/it befouls
we befoul
you befoul
they befoul
Preterite
I befouled
you befouled
he/she/it befouled
we befouled
you befouled
they befouled
Present Continuous
I am befouling
you are befouling
he/she/it is befouling
we are befouling
you are befouling
they are befouling
Present Perfect
I have befouled
you have befouled
he/she/it has befouled
we have befouled
you have befouled
they have befouled
Past Continuous
I was befouling
you were befouling
he/she/it was befouling
we were befouling
you were befouling
they were befouling
Past Perfect
I had befouled
you had befouled
he/she/it had befouled
we had befouled
you had befouled
they had befouled
Future
I will befoul
you will befoul
he/she/it will befoul
we will befoul
you will befoul
they will befoul
Future Perfect
I will have befouled
you will have befouled
he/she/it will have befouled
we will have befouled
you will have befouled
they will have befouled
Future Continuous
I will be befouling
you will be befouling
he/she/it will be befouling
we will be befouling
you will be befouling
they will be befouling
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been befouling
you have been befouling
he/she/it has been befouling
we have been befouling
you have been befouling
they have been befouling
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been befouling
you will have been befouling
he/she/it will have been befouling
we will have been befouling
you will have been befouling
they will have been befouling
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been befouling
you had been befouling
he/she/it had been befouling
we had been befouling
you had been befouling
they had been befouling
Conditional
I would befoul
you would befoul
he/she/it would befoul
we would befoul
you would befoul
they would befoul
Past Conditional
I would have befouled
you would have befouled
he/she/it would have befouled
we would have befouled
you would have befouled
they would have befouled
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.befoul - spot, stain, or pollutebefoul - spot, stain, or pollute; "The townspeople defiled the river by emptying raw sewage into it"
attaint, disgrace, dishonor, dishonour, shame - bring shame or dishonor upon; "he dishonored his family by committing a serious crime"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

befoul

verb
2. To contaminate the reputation of:
Idioms: give a black eye to, sling mud on.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

befoul

[bɪˈfaʊl] VT (liter) → ensuciar
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

befoul

vt (liter: lit, fig)besudeln; atmosphereverpesten
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
References in classic literature ?
After the execution Pierre was separated from the rest of the prisoners and placed alone in a small, ruined, and befouled church.
"Stop, father, hast forgot that but for Roger de Conde ye might have seen your daughter a corpse ere now, or, worse, herself befouled and dishonored?"
On this befouled background visions began to flow and burn.
Marry, thy jerkin is all befouled with the dust of the road.
733-736) Do not expose yourself befouled by the fireside in your house, but avoid this.
See to my gown, the third that I have befouled within the week.
They kill our women and our young, they befoul our al-Aqsa and we slumber.
Apart from the modern human, no other sentient being on planet Earth elects to create an inherently unstable "life system" and thereafter to befoul its own living space, as we humans do.
A critic for The Guardian wrote that future viewers "will be astonished that such a negative portrayal of homosexuality persisted in the mainstream in 2015.'' Variety wrote that the film was "undone by some of the ugliest gay-panic humor to befoul a studio release in recent memory.''
If you're disturbed by white-collar crime, but not quite as disturbed as you are by gay sex, then congratulations: You might possess just the right combo of social conscience and unexamined homophobia needed to fully enjoy "Get Hard." Not even two of America's most reliable funnymen can eke consistent laughs out of this sloppy odd-couple comedy about a wrongly convicted millionaire (Will Ferrell) who asks the nearest black guy (Kevin Hart) to toughen him up in preparation for a decade behind bars--a premise that allows for a few timely jabs at racial oppression and class disparity, though it's ultimately undone by some of the ugliest gay-panic humor to befoul a studio release in recent memory.
The land may take on a sacred quality to us because of how well we know it but we all too often assume the public will befoul our special places.
The wrong kinds are those such as the blaze that just killed 19 firefighters recently in Arizona, or those that have put Southeast Asia under a pall, that incinerate communities, befoul ecosystems with effluents, and trash biotas by burning at the wrong times and intensities.