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

But Adebayo shot 9 of 12 from the foul line, and contributed eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks in 37 minutes. — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 11 Nov. 2026

That shooting from the field helped offset his 1 of 7 from the foul line. — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 10 Nov. 2026

Mullins led the Huskies in scoring with 23 points, making three 3-pointers in the first half and going 10 of 11 from the foul line. — Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 7 Nov. 2026

At the foul line, New York was 10-for-10 while Cleveland was 10-for-17. — Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 7 Nov. 2026

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
• brucine
• byline

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)