(a) A bird; esp., a wild bird; wild ~; (b) cacchen (fon, henten, lacchen, nimen, taken) foules, to catch wild birds, to go fowling; ~ in lim, a bird caught in birdlime; (c) a songbird; foulene song, the singing of birds; foules song, the song of birds (or of a bird); (d) a carnivorous bird; also fig. a preying worm [quot.: a1200]; ~ of prei, a bird of prey; ~ of ravine, a bird of prey; also, a bird that feeds on carrion; kene ~, a fierce bird, bird of prey; (e) as applied to various birds and birdlike creatures of mythology and folklore: a winged creature.

(a) A domesticated fowl, a table fowl; ~ baken, a baked fowl; fed ~, a fattened fowl; hen ~, a hen, a chicken; tame ~, a domesticated fowl; (b) a bird used in hawking.

A likeness, a picture, or an image of a bird; the symbol of John the Evangelist; the Roman imperial eagle; a bird in a coat of arms; etc.

An insect; a bee, a butterfly.

In personal names.

In compds. and combs. of foul plus noun: (a) ~ flight, foules flight, a flock of birds in flight; (b) ~ fod, food for birds, carrion; (c) ~ kin, a species of bird; also, birds in general, the class of vertebrates known as birds; (d) foulene cund, a quality or trait of birds as a class, bird nature; (e) foulene (foules) parais, the paradise of birds somewhere in the western ocean; (f) foules vise, larkspur.

In compds. or combs. consisting of adj., or attrib. noun, plus foul: (a) fethered ~, ~ fethered; (b) grete ~, large bird, great bird; litel ~, small bird; also, a personal name; smal ~, a small bird; esp., a songbird; (c) real ~, ~ roial, kinewurðe ~, a bird of distinction, a royal bird [usually applied to an eagle or a hawk]; (d) dai ~, a bird that flies by day; flight ~, a flying bird; night ~, a bird that flies by night; river ~, a water bird; sed ~, a bird that eats seeds; trede ~, a breeding fowl, such as a rooster [cp. MnScot. treader cock]; water ~, a water bird; wod ~, a woodland bird; worm ~, a bird that eats worms.

In phrases: (a) foules in (bi, of, on) the lift, foules of heven, foules in the firmament, birds of the air, birds of the sky; ~ in the air; (b) ~ in (of, on, to, with) flight, ~ fliing, ~ that flieth; (c) ~ in frith, a bird in the woods, a woodland bird.

(a) bestes and foules, beasts and birds; also, every animal creature, all animals; ~ ne best, neither bird nor beast; (b) mid fiscen and mid feoȝelen; non fish, non ~, no fish nor bird; (c) best and ~ and fish, all animals, all of the animal creation.

In comparisons: (a) as ~ flieth, as a bird flies; as ~ in flight; as ~ mai flien; as ~ to flien; etc.; (b) as fain as ~ of dai, as happy as a bird at dawn; as glad as ~ of dai; as fain as ~ on fair morwen; as fain as ~ of the bright sun; etc.; never ~ so fain of May, never a bird so happy in May.

In proverbs.