Foul vs Tangled - What's the difference?

As verbs the difference between foul and tangled

is that foul is to make dirty while tangled is past tense of tangle.

As an adjective foul

is covered with, or containing unclean matter; polluted; nasty; defiled.

As a noun foul

is 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.

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.

External links

* * * ----

tangled

English

Verb

(head)

(tangle)

tangle

English

(wikipedia tangle)

Etymology 1

Origin uncertain; apparently a variant form of (tagle).

Verb

(tangl)

to become mixed together or intertwined

Her hair was tangled from a day in the wind.

to be forced into some kind of situation

to enter into an argument, conflict, dispute, or fight

Don't tangle with someone three times your size.

He tangled with the law.

to mix together or intertwine

to catch and hold

* Milton

Tangled in amorous nets.

* Crashaw

When my simple weakness strays, / Tangled in forbidden ways.

Synonyms

* (to become mixed together or intertwined) dishevel, tousle * (to be forced into some kind of situation) drag, drag in, embroil, sweep, sweep up * argue, conflict, dispute, fight * (to mix together or intertwine) entangle, knot, mat, snarl * (to catch and hold) entrap

Antonyms

* (to mix together or intertwine) untangle, unsnarl

Noun

(en noun)

A tangled twisted mass.

A complicated or confused state or condition.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Boundary problems , passage=Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.}}

An argument, conflict, dispute, or fight.

(mathematics) A region of the projection of a knot such that the knot crosses its perimeter exactly four times.

Synonyms

* (tangled twisted mass) knot, mess, snarl * (complicated or confused state or condition) maze, snarl * argument, conflict, dispute, fight

Etymology 2

Of Scandinavian origin; compare Norwegian tongul, Faroese tongul, Icelandic .

Noun

(en noun)

Any large type of seaweed, especially a species of Laminaria .

* 1849 , , In Memoriam , 10:

Than if with thee the roaring wells / Should gulf him fathom-deep in brine; / And hands so often clasped in mine, / Should toss with tangle and with shells.

(in the plural) An instrument consisting essentiallly of an iron bar to which are attached swabs, or bundles of frayed rope, or other similar substances, used to capture starfishes, sea urchins, and other similar creatures living at the bottom of the sea.

External links

* * *

Anagrams

* English ergative verbs