foozle

American  

[foo-zuhl] / ˈfu zəl /

verb (used with or without object)

foozled, foozling

1. to bungle; play clumsily.

   to foozle a stroke in golf;

   to foozle on the last hole.

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noun

1. act of foozling, especially a bad stroke in golf.

foozle British  

/ ˈfuːzəl /

verb

1. to bungle (a shot)

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noun

1. a bungled shot

Usage

What does foozle mean? A foozle is a botched or bungled attempt at something, usually a shot in golf. It's also a verb meaning "to bungle."It's sometimes used in the gaming community to describe a final boss.

Other Word Forms

• foozler noun

Etymology

Origin of foozle

First recorded in 1825–35; perhaps from dialectal German fuseln “to work badly, clumsily, hurriedly”

Explanation

Though most frequently used in golf, foozle means any failed attempt at doing something. If you're looking to impress your crush by lining up a cool shot in a pool game, you'd better not foozle it. The origin of this mysterious word is not known. Some people think that the German dialect word fuseln, meaning "to work clumsily," may be part of its history, but how it worked its way from German to the golf course is not known even if it is true. And although it's usually a verb, golfers can use it as a noun, too: "She set up that shot so well, only for it to be a foozle."

Example Sentences

In Seven Gables, as Matthiessen takes pleasure in showing, he worked out a thorough and frightening economic-spirit ual image of America, only to foozle it at the end.

From Time Magazine Archive

At that, the American got 38 and was only 1 down when the gruelling told and she began to cut drives, to foozle putts.

From Time Magazine Archive

Fo's jokes sometimes foozle aimlessly about the room like a balloon that jets on its own escaping air.

From Time Magazine Archive

But what the foozle is to the golfer, the cropper to the rider, the spill in midstream to the boatman, the fall at the end of the jump is to the ski-man.

From Down the Yellowstone by Freeman, Lewis R. (Lewis Ransome)

If e'er I fail in etiquette, And foozle on The Proper Stuff Regarding manners, don't forget A. Tennyson's were pretty tough.

From The Book of Humorous Verse by Wells, Carolyn