Part 315

Fos"ter*ling, n. [AS. fstorling.] A foster child.

Fos"ter*ment (?), n. Food; nourishment. [Obs.]

Fos"tress (?), n. [For fosteress.] A woman who feeds and cherishes; a nurse. B. Jonson.

Foth"er (?), n. [OE. fother, foder, AS. f&?;er a cartload; akin to G. fuder a cartload, a unit of measure, OHG. fuodar, D. voeder, and perh. to E. fathom, or cf. Skr. ptr vessel, dish. Cf. Fodder a fother.] 1. A wagonload; a load of any sort. [Obs.]

Of dung full many a fother.

Chaucer.

2. See Fodder, a unit of weight.

Foth"er, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fothered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Fothering.] [Cf. Fodder food, and G. f¸ttern, futtern, to cover within or without, to line. √75.] To stop (a leak in a ship at sea) by drawing under its bottom a thrummed sail, so that the pressure of the water may force it into the crack. Totten.

Fo"tive (?), a. [L. fovere, fotum, to keep warm, to cherish.] Nourishing. [Obs.] T. Carew (1633).

Fot"mal (?), n. (Com.) Seventy pounds of lead.

{ ||Fou`gade" (?), ||Fou`gasse" (?) }, n. (Mil.) A small mine, in the form of a well sunk from the surface of the ground, charged with explosive and projectiles. It is made in a position likely to be occupied by the enemy.

Fought (?), imp. & p. p. of Fight.

Fought"en (?), p. p. of Fight. [Archaic]

Foul (foul), n. [See Fowl.] A bird. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Foul (foul), a. [Compar. Fouler (-r); superl. Foulest.] [OE. foul, ful, AS. fl; akin to D. vuil, G. faul rotten, OHG. fl, Icel. fl foul, fetid; Dan. fuul, Sw. ful foul, Goth. fls fetid, Lith. puti to be putrid, L. putere to stink, be putrid, pus pus, Gr. py`on pus, to cause to rot, Skr. py to stink. √82. Cf. Defile to foul, File to foul, Filth, Pus, Putrid.] 1. Covered with, or containing, extraneous matter which is injurious, noxious, offensive, or obstructive; filthy; dirty; not clean; polluted; nasty; defiled; as, a foul cloth; foul hands; a foul chimney; foul air; a ship's bottom is foul when overgrown with barnacles; a gun becomes foul from repeated firing; a well is foul with polluted water.

My face is foul with weeping.

Job. xvi. 16.

2. Scurrilous; obscene or profane; abusive; as, foul words; foul language.

3. Hateful; detestable; shameful; odious; wretched. "The foul with Sycorax." Shak.

Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?

Milton.

4. Loathsome; disgusting; as, a foul disease.

5. Ugly; homely; poor. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares.

Shak.

6. Not favorable; unpropitious; not fair or advantageous; as, a foul wind; a foul road; cloudy or rainy; stormy; not fair; -- said of the weather, sky, etc.

So foul a sky clears not without a storm.

Shak.