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to make dirty or filthy; soil; defile; sully:
a bird that befouls its own nest.
Contemporary Examples

Adolf Hitler, despite being the most evil force ever to befoul mankind, was also a kind and conscientious employer.
Secrets of Nazi Secretaries Andrew Roberts August 29, 2011

Historical Examples

You see I have put gloves on, that I may not befoul myself by touching you.
Debts of Honor Maurus Jkai

They will close in on you tomorrow—you and all the dirty vermin that befoul these cliffs.
Wappin’ Wharf Charles S. Brooks

He, the officer, must befoul his person and derange his hours of rest and recreation, that others may enjoy.
Shandygaff Christopher Morley

Can anything be so bad as the living bush which bleeds and talks, or the Harpies who befoul Aeneas’s dinner?
Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay George Otto Trevelyan

I could not prevent myself from saying, “Do you think it is nice to befoul your own nest?”
My Actor-Husband Anonymous

And they deface and spoil the beauty of the land and befoul the water courses.
Prairie Smoke (Second Edition, Revised) Melvin Randolph Gilmore

Why, I would rather lose the power of speech for ever than befoul your ears with the record of my shame.
A Traitor’s Wooing Headon Hill

Self-consciousness compels such creatures to befoul their origin.
The Remarkable History of Sir Thomas Upmore, bart., M.P., formerly known as “Tommy Upmore” R. D. Blackmore

verb
(transitive) to make dirty or foul; soil; defile
v.

early 14c., from be- + foul (v.). Related: Befouled; befouling.