defoulen

• defoul, defoul, defoule, de-foule, defowle
• defouli, defouly (Southern, Southwest Midland); defowlyn (Norfolk); defule (North Riding)
• defoull (Early Scots)

Borrowed from Old French defoler, defouler, from de- +‎ foler (“to trample, destroy”), but reinterpreted as de- +‎ foulen (“to dirty, damage”). Compare defilen and defoylen. First attested in c. 1300.

• IPA^(key): /dɛˈfuːlən/, /dɛːˈfuːlən/

defoulen (third-person singular simple present defouleth, present participle defoulende, defoulynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle defouled)

1. To injure or damage; to cause harm to:
   1. To oppress or mistreat; to behave badly towards.
   2. To defeat or ruin; to cause the end of.
   3. To disfigure or mutilate; to damage something's appearance.

      Synonym: foulen

   4. (rare) To breach or violate (an agreement).
2. To adulterate or tarnish (a person or thing):
   1. To dirty or foul; to make dirty:

      Synonym: foulen

   2. To pollute or defile; to morally corrupt.

      Synonym: foulen

   3. To desecrate; to ritually or spiritually corrupt.
   4. (rare) To debase or defame; to ruin in reputation.
   5. (surgery, rare) To infect (bones).
3. To debauch or violate; to have illicit sexual intercourse with:
   1. To rape; to force sexual intercourse upon.
4. To trample or tread upon; to walk over:
   1. (rare) To scatter or disperse by treading.
   2. (figurative, rare) To envelop or surround (of darkness)
5. (rare) To press or squeeze; to push upon.

• defoul

• English: defoul
• Middle Scots: defoul, defoull

• “dēfǒulen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “defoul, defoil, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.