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 latest development: examining film of isolation specialists last summer to work on setting up Jokic to play one-on-one from the foul line. —Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 18 Apr. 2025

Herro’s scorching shooting continued in the second quarter, finishing the first half with 23 points on perfect 8-of-8 shooting from the field, 3-of-3 shooting on threes and 4-of-4 shooting from the foul line. —Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 17 Apr. 2025

Not after missing six of his 18 shots from the foul line, at least. —Evan Webeck, Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2025

Among the 35 players who averaged 22+ points this past season, Paolo was the only one who shot less than 46% from the field and under 73% from the foul line. —Eric Wong, New York Times, 14 Apr. 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)