How to Use foul up in a Sentence

foul up

verb
  • Got there late, being fouled up en route by getting on wrong tube.
    — Phoebe Wall Howard, Detroit Free Press, 28 May 2018
  • For just one of 67 counties to use the wrong one could foul up an entire statewide count.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 6 Jan. 2024
  • This brings back the Bilas comment from long ago on fouling up two.
    — Joe Rexrode, The Athletic, 24 Feb. 2025
  • But a foul up with super formula license points stole that dream away.
    — Nathan Brown, The Indianapolis Star, 3 May 2021
  • But Paige has been there, injuries fouling up her career, too.
    — John Nogowski, Hartford Courant, 25 Mar. 2025
  • Then come foul up, goof up, gum up, mess up, muck up, screw up and synonymous unprintables.
    — Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Mar. 2021
  • That is, one can’t simply be plugged into the other without fouling up the picture.
    — Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 20 July 2019
  • That’s how the Patriots can score, by fooling the other team or forcing it to foul up.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 18 Nov. 2019
  • Then Lewis snatched the inbound pass to get possession and UConn fouled up three.
    — Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 15 Feb. 2026
  • An incorrect connection or approach can foul up a line, damage a plane or cause an accident.
    — Tara Copp The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 25 May 2026
  • In the end, though, neither an explosion nor a giant spill of fluid that could foul up waterways and the ocean occurred.
    — Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 27 May 2026
  • Those intruders chop down the jungles and foul up the wetlands, as the spirits mount an offensive to drive them off the shorelines.
    — Luke Winkie, The Atlantic, 22 July 2021
  • In between those foul shots, the Jayhawks intentionally fouled up three.
    — Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 29 Jan. 2025
  • But their strategy was fouled up when the car’s occupants switched on the headlights, throwing a glare up the tote road along which the wardens had planned to sprint.
    — Dave Duffey, Outdoor Life, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Bill Plaschke warns that Rob Pelinka must not foul up again, as if Pelinka has anything to do with any of this.
    — latimes.com, 21 June 2019
  • Multiple automakers are about to start tests of driverless cars in which there is no one behind the steering wheel waiting to take over in case the car fouls up.
    — Nathan Bomey, USA TODAY, 29 Jan. 2018
  • Pike doesn't have a lot of chances to foul up with his dad, Dayton head football coach Jeff Nations, following his progress.
    — David Taylor, Houston Chronicle, 17 Feb. 2018
  • Year-long court battles have been waged over exactly how clean the water in the Everglades has to be without fouling up the whole system.
    — Alex Harris july 3, Miami Herald, 3 July 2025
  • Within hours of opening, Brightline’s online reservation system fouled up, showing that tickets were sold out for weeks.
    — Wayne K. Roustan, Sun-Sentinel.com, 12 Jan. 2018
  • There remains the possibility that the tank will still explode or rupture in a massive leak that could send the chemical to foul up waterways and the ocean.
    — Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2026
  • If his mechanics are fouled up and if his pocket presence is askew, those aren’t little things, and no one other than hot-take artists are saying he is seriously maligned.
    — Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 13 Sep. 2019
  • Bee digestion breaks down the sucrose within nectar into glucose and fructose, which are an excellent food source for microbes like yeast that could foul up the honey stores.
    — Darren Incorvaia, Discover Magazine, 15 Aug. 2021
  • Fields’s recruitment was an enigma before injuries fouled up the quarterback situations of two programs high on his list, and now there’s even less clarity about his future.
    — Chris Johnson, SI.com, 6 Sep. 2017
  • Conversations on hate speech and the toxic language fouling up online debates about the elections were potential fodder for a separate machine-learning research project.
    — Dune Lawrence, Bloomberg.com, 21 Sep. 2017
  • Indiana opted to foul up three, Dug McDaniel made the first then intentionally missed the second, Thompson grabbing the rebound.
    — Zach Osterman, The Indianapolis Star, 5 Mar. 2023
  • The foul up with the referees is a bit of surprise given Indianapolis' reputation for being an effective host city for large-scale events —and the importance of this event to the city and its reputation.
    — Alexandria Burris, The Indianapolis Star, 19 Mar. 2021
  • Radiation fouled up their microprocessors and camera components.
    — Krista Stevens, Longreads, 1 May 2018
  • Radiation fouled up their microprocessors and camera components.
    — Vince Beiser, WIRED, 26 Apr. 2018
  • There was Anthony Edwards brashly asking Watson if the Nuggets planned to foul up three at the end of regulation, before draining an incredible shot to force overtime.
    — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 12 Apr. 2026
  • Wild turkeys gobbled up Staten Island straphangers’ time on Monday, after a flock fouled up service on the Staten Island Railway.
    — Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 17 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'foul up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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