foul line

noun

1

: either of two straight lines extending from the rear corner of home plate through the outer corners of first and third base respectively and prolonged to the boundary of a baseball field

2

: a line across a bowling alley that a player must not step over when delivering the ball

3

: either of two lines on a basketball court parallel to and 15 feet from the backboards behind which a player must stand while shooting a free throw

Examples of foul line in a Sentence

The ball landed just inside the right-field foul line.

Recent Examples on the Web

The former San Antonio Spurs reserve led the team in blocks (six) and offensive rebounds (12), shot 70.4% and went 8-for-8 from the foul line. —Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 18 July 2025

Take a look the full season comparison between the two: Which player deserves to have his name called and get to run along the foul line and then jog out to center field in Atlanta on Tuesday night? —Dan Freedman, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025

Simons is reliable at the foul line, too, with a career free-throw percentage of 88.0%. —Zack Cox, Hartford Courant, 24 June 2025

The Celtics took advantage of the Knicks’ on multiple fronts, getting Karl-Anthony Towns into foul trouble with three early personals, then playing the Hack-a-Shaq game with Mitchell Robinson, who shot just 3-of-10 from the foul line to stifle an otherwise dominant defensive performance. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 6 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1868, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for foul line

• affine
• airline
• align
• aline
• assign
• baseline
• beamline
• benign
• bloodline
• bovine
• byline
• canine

Kids Definition

foul line

noun

1

: either of two straight lines running from the rear corner of home plate through first and third base on to the boundary of a baseball field

2

: a line across which a player must not step (as when bowling or shooting a free throw)