What does "fouling" mean?

The adhesion of a foreign material onto a surface, especially so as to reduce its functionality.

What is a synonym for "fouling"?

Common synonyms include: abuse, conversion, corruption, defalcation, desecration, diversion.

//ˈfaʊlɪŋ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The adhesion of a foreign material onto a surface, especially so as to reduce its functionality. countable, uncountable
"Probably, rifling evolved from the early observation of the feathers on an arrow-and from the practical results of cutting channels in a musket, originally to reduce fouling, then because it was found to improve accuracy of the shot."

Verb

1
present participle and gerund of foul form-of, gerund, participle, present
"A new type of fouling point indicator is being tried out by the London Transport Executive. Until now the standard method of indicating the point nearest to a junction of two stabling roads where a train can stand without fouling the adjacent road has been by fixing the letters "FP" [fouling point] to the sleepers of the road concerned."

"The threats range from diesel exhaust and unchecked forest fires fouling the air to untreated waste poisoning the water."

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.