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• foul-up
  foul-up

  noun

  a condition of difficulty or disorder brought on by inefficiency, stupidity, etc.
• foul up
  foul up

  verb

  (tr) to bungle; mismanage

foul-up

American  

[foul-uhp] / ˈfaʊlˌʌp /

noun

Informal.

1. a condition of difficulty or disorder brought on by inefficiency, stupidity, etc.

2. failure of a mechanical part to operate correctly.

3. a person who habitually makes mistakes; bungler.

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foul up British  

verb

1. (tr) to bungle; mismanage

2. (tr) to make dirty; contaminate

3. to be or cause to be blocked, choked, or entangled

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noun

1. a state of confusion or muddle caused by bungling

foul up Idioms  

1. Blunder or cause to blunder; botch, ruin. For example, He's fouled up this report, but I think we can fix it, or Our plans were fouled up by the bad weather. This expression is widely believed to have originated as a euphemism for fuck up. [Colloquial; c. 1940]

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Etymology

Origin of foul-up

1950–55, noun use of verb phrase foul up

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

foul-up foul up

Rumors, recently debunked, spread that the town fired two workers over the foul-up, though neither processed payments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

“The reason why you wouldn’t check a bag is that eliminates one of the foul-up points,” Brancatelli said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 16, 2023

His own error dropped him from third to sixth in Imola, followed by the Barcelona engine failure and the strategy foul-up that turned a win into a fourth place in Monaco.

From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2022

As for the foul-up at America’s biggest sporting event, officials revealed that an “abnormality” in the power system triggered an automatic shutdown, forcing backup systems to kick in.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 26, 2019

A mistake, maybe — a foul-up in the paperwork.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien

What we want to do here is foul up the hard drive platters, the spinning discs that our data is meticulously placed upon.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 8, 2022

And, if the Giants fade, can they foul up the Dodgers’ season anyway?

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2021

“So for us to foul up those two, that part we know we can get corrected.”

From Washington Times ● Oct. 1, 2018

Self-deleting messages can also foul up long-established record-retention practices and, for some federal employees, they may constitute a violation of the law.

From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2017

Mama was afraid it would foul up our drinking water.

From "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson