What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

What is the difference between foul and dive?

foul | dive |

In context|sports|lang=en terms the difference between foul and dive

is that foul is (sports) a breach of the rules of a game, especially one involving inappropriate contact with an opposing player in order to gain an advantage; as, for example, foot-tripping in soccer, or contact of any kind in basketball while dive is (sports) to deliberately fall down after a challenge, imitating being fouled, in the hope of getting one's opponent penalised.

As verbs the difference between foul and dive

is that foul is to make dirty while dive is to swim under water.

As nouns the difference between foul and dive

is that foul is (sports) a breach of the rules of a game, especially one involving inappropriate contact with an opposing player in order to gain an advantage; as, for example, foot-tripping in soccer, or contact of any kind in basketball while dive is a jump or plunge into water or dive can be (diva).

As a adjective foul

is covered with, or containing unclean matter; polluted; nasty; defiled; as, a foul cloth; foul hands; a foul chimney; foul air; a ship's bottom is foul when overgrown with barnacles; a gun becomes foul from repeated firing; a well is foul with polluted water.

foul

English

(Webster 1913)

Etymology 1

From (etyl), from (etyl) . More at (l).

Adjective

(er)
  • Covered with, or containing unclean matter; polluted; nasty; defiled
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=29, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Unspontaneous combustion , passage=Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.}}
  • obscene or profane; abusive.
  • Hateful; detestable; unpleasant
  • * Milton
  • Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?
  • Loathsome; disgusting; as, a foul disease.
  • (obsolete) Ugly; homely; poor.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares.
  • Not favorable; unpropitious; not fair or advantageous; as, a foul wind; a foul road; cloudy or rainy; stormy; not fair; -- said of the weather, sky, etc.
  • * Shakespeare
  • So foul a sky clears not without a storm.
  • Not conforming to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc.; unfair; dishonest; dishonorable; cheating.
  • (nautical) Having freedom of motion interfered with by collision or entanglement; entangled; - opposed to clear; as, a rope or cable may get foul while paying it out.
  • (baseball) Outside of the base lines; in foul territory.
  • Usage notes
    * Nouns to which "foul" is often applied: play, ball, language, breath, smell, odor, water, weather, deed.
    Synonyms
    * shameful; odious; wretched
    Derived terms
    * afoul * befoul * fall foul * nonfoul * nonfouling

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make dirty.
  • to foul the face or hands with mire
    She's fouled her diaper.
  • To besmirch.
  • He's fouled his reputation.
  • To clog or obstruct.
  • The hair has fouled the drain.
  • (nautical) To entangle.
  • The kelp has fouled the prop.
  • (basketball) To make contact with an opposing player in order to gain advantage.
  • Smith fouled him hard.
  • (baseball) To hit outside of the baselines.
  • Jones fouled the ball off the facing of the upper deck.
  • To become clogged.
  • ''The drain fouled .
  • To become entangled.
  • The prop fouled on the kelp.
  • (basketball) To commit a foul.
  • Smith fouled within the first minute of the quarter.
  • (baseball) To hit a ball outside of the baselines.
  • Jones fouled for strike one.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (sports) A breach of the rules of a game, especially one involving inappropriate contact with an opposing player in order to gain an advantage; as, for example, foot-tripping in soccer, or contact of any kind in basketball.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=December 10 , author=Arindam Rej , title=Norwich 4 - 2 Newcastle , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=A second Norwich goal in four minutes arrived after some dire Newcastle defending. Gosling gave the ball away with a sloppy back-pass, allowing Crofts to curl in a cross that the unmarked Morison powered in with a firm, 12-yard header.
    Gosling's plight worsened when he was soon shown a red card for a foul on Martin.}}
  • (bowling) A (usually accidental) contact between a bowler and the lane before the bowler has released the ball.
  • (baseball) A foul ball, a ball which has been hit outside of the base lines.
  • Jones hit a foul up over the screen.

    dive

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) diven, duven, from the merger of (etyl) . See also (l), (l).

    Verb

  • To swim under water.
  • To jump into water head-first.
  • * Whately
  • It is not that pearls fetch a high price because men have dived for them.
  • To descend sharply or steeply.
  • (especially with in ) To undertake with enthusiasm.
  • She dove right in and started making improvements.
  • (sports) To deliberately fall down after a challenge, imitating being fouled, in the hope of getting one's opponent penalised.
  • To cause to descend, dunk; to plunge something into water.
  • (Hooker)
  • To explore by diving; to plunge into.
  • * Denham
  • The Curtii bravely dived the gulf of fame.
  • * Emerson
  • He dives the hollow, climbs the steeps.
  • (figurative) To plunge or to go deeply into any subject, question, business, etc.; to penetrate; to explore.
  • (South)
    Usage notes
    The past tense dove'' is found chiefly in North American English, where it is used alongside the regular (and earlier) ''dived'', with regional variations; in British English ''dived'' is the standard past tense, ''dove'' existing only in some dialects. As a past participle, ''dove'' is relatively rare. (Compare ''Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary''; ''The American Heritage Dictionary''; ''The Cambridge Guide to English Usage )

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A jump or plunge into water.
  • A swim under water.
  • A decline.
  • (slang) A seedy bar, nightclub, etc.
  • (aviation) Aerial descend with the nose pointed down.
  • (sports) A deliberate fall after a challenge.
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl); see diva.

    Noun

    (head)
  • Anagrams

    * English irregular verbs ----