foul vs muddy

foul

verb
  • To make dirty. 

  • To make contact with an opposing player in order to gain advantage. 

  • To become clogged. 

  • To become entangled. 

  • To come into contact or collide with. 

  • To besmirch. 

  • To hit a ball outside of the baselines. 

  • To hit outside of the baselines. 

  • To clog or obstruct. 

  • To entangle. 

  • To commit a foul. 

noun
  • A breach of the rules of a game, especially one involving inappropriate contact with an opposing player in order to gain an advantage; for example, tripping someone up in soccer, or contact of any kind in basketball. 

  • A foul ball, a ball which has been hit outside of the base lines. 

  • A (usually accidental) contact between a bowler and the lane before the bowler has released the ball. 

adj
  • Entangled and therefore restricting free movement, not clear. 

  • Detestable, unpleasant, loathsome. 

  • Obscene, vulgar or abusive. 

  • Disgusting, repulsive; causing disgust. 

  • (with "of") Positioned on, in, or near enough to (a specified area) so as to obstruct it. 

  • Dishonest or not conforming to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc. 

  • Unpleasant, stormy or rainy. 

  • Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty. 

  • Outside of the base lines; in foul territory. 

muddy

verb
  • Sometimes followed by up: to become covered or splashed with mud; to become dirty or soiled. 

  • To become contaminated or impure. 

  • To make (something) impure; to contaminate. 

  • To make (a colour) dirty, dull, or muted. 

  • To make (a matter, etc.) more complicated or unclear; to make a mess of (something). 

  • To cover or splash (someone or something) with mud. 

  • To make (water or some other liquid) cloudy or turbid by stirring up mud or other sediment. 

  • To confuse (a person or their thinking); to muddle. 

  • To damage (a person or their reputation); to sully, to tarnish. 

  • Of water or some other liquid: to become cloudy or turbid. 

noun
  • The edible mud crab or mangrove crab (Scylla serrata). 

adj
  • Of the air: not fresh; impure, polluted. 

  • Originally, morally or religiously wrong; corrupt, sinful; now, morally or legally dubious; shady, sketchy. 

  • Of a colour: not bright: dirty, dull. 

  • Dirty, filthy. 

  • Of water or some other liquid: containing mud or (by extension) other sediment in suspension; cloudy, turbid. 

  • Of or relating to mud; also, having the characteristics of mud, especially in colour or taste. 

  • Of an image: blurry or dim. 

  • Of sound (especially during performance, recording, or playback): indistinct, muffled. 

  • Covered or splashed with, or full of, mud (“wet soil”). 

  • Soiled with feces. 

  • Of light: cloudy, opaque. 

  • Of speech, thinking, or writing: ambiguous or vague; or confused, incoherent, or mixed-up; also, poorly expressed. 

  • Not clear. 

How often have the words foul and muddy occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )