befoul
Americanverb (used with object)
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befouls,
present (3rd person singular)
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befouled,
past participle, past
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befouling
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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befoulsimple
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befoulssimple
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have befouledperfect
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has befouledperfect
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am befoulingprogressive
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are befoulingprogressive
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is befoulingprogressive
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have been befoulingperfect progressive
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has been befoulingperfect progressive
Past
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befouledsimple
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had befouledperfect
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was befoulingprogressive
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were befoulingprogressive
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had been befoulingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of befoul
First recorded in 1275–1325, befoul is from the Middle English word bi-foulen. See be-, foul
Explanation
To befoul something is to make it really dirty. If you befoul your shoes in the mud, don't wear them inside the house or you'll also befoul the carpet. You can use this verb to mean pollute or contaminate: "Dumping those chemicals down the drain will eventually befoul our town's drinking water." It's also good for anything that gets gross and dirty, like when you befoul a brand new sweater by spilling mustard on it. Figuratively, befoul means "damage," the way gossip can befoul someone's reputation.
Vocabulary lists containing befoul
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
At long last, the U.S. is thinking beyond the tailpipe to examine hidden ways that cars befoul the planet.
From Slate ● Nov. 9, 2023
He has persevered through torrential downpours, droughts and, most vexingly, increasingly elaborate halftime shows that befoul his beloved turf.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 12, 2023
Cow pies befoul apple carts, a teddy bear and a man trying to save a young girl.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 23, 2022
The aftereffects of this campaign may befoul our civic life for some time to come.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 23, 2016
But then, Samir said that the ghosts would never risk stealing our breath because Rasseem was with us, and his breath could befoul the afterlife.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
And when drilling goes bad, it befouls the environment and the greater economy.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 7, 2021
For all the burlesque that befouls our politics, the quadrennial ritual on January 20 is when we are humbled by the reminder of our own solemn charge.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 20, 2021
Perhaps most distressing about SantaCon is its size and the way that it shuts down and befouls dozens of blocks.
From New York Times ● Dec. 13, 2013
Author and Nantucket Home Owner David Halberstam says that the plan represents "an ecological awakening, a sense of the fragility of the islands, a recognition that what befouls one area befouls all areas."
From Time Magazine Archive
Man and Angels, ye, Whom stain of strife befouls, A light to kindle souls Bear radiant in the stain.
From Poems — Volume 2 by George Meredith
But in 2026, nothing comparable exists for our befouled media landscape.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
The putrid chamber drama becomes a fantasia, befouled rags turn into tuxedo pants and it’s finally safe to belt how they feel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025
A bad apple might be icky and distasteful, but befouled meat caused a related, but totally distinct, sensation cluster of contamination, queasiness and defilement.
From New York Times ● Dec. 27, 2021
It’s not as though Harvard lacks for alums whom the institution should be ashamed to be associated with, or who have befouled “the public perception of integrity in higher education.”
From Salon ● Dec. 10, 2018
She screamed when she saw her dripping befouled child.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
Netflix had been befouling the tape of late, falling 26.7 percent in the past three months and declining on 21 of the previous 29 trading days.
From Slate ● Feb. 19, 2024
The city is also responding to months of complaints about homeless people blocking and befouling public spaces, menacing passers-by and committing random assaults.
From New York Times ● Aug. 2, 2021
Well, for Moore, it’s a blueprint: one rich guy’s knack for befouling the neighborhood foretells another’s ability to mess up the land of the free.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 21, 2018
"And then there comes a threat" — Big Coal, enabling modern contrivances while befouling nature — "to their way of life. And they will have to defend it."
From US News ● Jan. 22, 2016
Despite his lead codpiece, the dust—undoubtedly—filtered in and at him, brought him daily, so long as he failed to emigrate, its little load of befouling filth.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
