Word.ws English Dictionary

defoul

UK[dɪˈfaʊɫ]

defoul verb: to trample underfoot.

Verb

defoul (third-person singular simple present defouls, present participle defouling, simple past and past participle defouled)

  1. (obsolete) To trample underfoot.
    • And so whanne they had horsed the kynges ageyne they drewe hem al xj kynges to gyder and said they wold be reuenged of the dommage that they had taken that day / The meane whyle cam in syr Ector with an egyr countenaunce / and found Vlfyus and Brastias on foote in grete perylle of deth that were...1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xiiij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book I
  2. (obsolete) To physically crush or break.
    • Then Sir Galahad began to break spears marvelously, that all men had wonder of him; for he there surmounted all other knights, for within a while he had defouled many good knights of the Table Round save twain, that was Sir Launcelot and Sir Percivale.1922, Charles Sylvester, Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 5
  3. (obsolete) To oppress, keep down.
  4. (obsolete) To defile the chastity of; to debauch, to rape.

Synonyms of defoul

9 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of defoul

third-person singular presentdefouls
present participledefouling
past participledefouled
pastdefouled
alternative formdefoyle
alternative formdefoil

Origin of defoul

Inherited from Middle English defoulen, from Old French defouler.

Words that rhyme with defoul

15 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about defoul

What does defoul mean?
Defoul means to trample underfoot.
What part of speech is defoul?
Defoul is a verb.
How do you pronounce defoul?
Defoul is pronounced [dɪˈfaʊɫ] (UK).
What is the past tense of defoul?
The past tense of defoul is defouled.

Words near defoul in the dictionary

  1. deformylated
  2. deformylation
  3. deformylations
  4. deforolimus
  5. deforoxamine
  6. defoul
  7. defouled
  8. defouling
  9. defouls
  10. Defra
  11. defrag

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: defoul (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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