What does fouled mean?
Fouled is the past tense and past participle of the verb foul, and it can also function as an adjective. Its literal meaning is to make something dirty, contaminated, or unfit for use. Figuratively, to foul something is to spoil it or infringe a rule, as in fouling the opponent's play or fouling a contract. Baseball has several precise uses: a batter has fouled a pitch if the ball is hit outside the foul lines, while a player is fouled if another player commits an illegal action against them. The word usually carries a negative or disruptive implication, even when its use is technical. Fouled is especially useful because it connects ordinary ideas of contamination and making a mess with figurative ideas of obstruction and wrongdoing. Its grammatical status depends on context: it is the finite past-tense form after a stated time, the past participle in passive or perfect constructions, and an adjective when it describes a resulting condition.
To make dirty or contaminate, spoil, violate a rule, or commit an illegal action; in baseball, to hit a ball outside the foul lines or fail to swing at a pitch.
"The tackle fouled the striker and resulted in a penalty."
The baseball sense is idiomatic: a batter can foul a pitch by hitting it outside the foul lines or by not swinging.
Dirty, spoiled, tainted, or affected by an illegal action or rule violation.
"The fouled player was awarded free throws."
This use is generally a participial adjective describing the person or thing affected by the action.
In baseball, a foul usually does nothing—unless it becomes strike three.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does fouled come from?
Fouled is formed by adding the suffix -ed to foul. The English word foul came through Middle English from Old French foul and fouler, associated respectively with being rotten or dirty and with treading, trampling, or polluting. Its development from physical contamination to violations of rules is an extension of the older sense of spoiling or defiling something.
Related word forms
How fouled is actually used
The word is neutral in technical sports descriptions but generally negative elsewhere, suggesting contamination, obstruction, or wrongdoing. In baseball, the precise meaning depends on context: a fouled ball lies outside the foul lines, while a fouled pitch may refer to a pitch the batter failed to swing at.
Easily confused with fouled
Fowl means a bird or poultry, whereas foul describes dirt, spoilage, or a violation of the rules.