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

That’s around the time Braun started establishing some offense by sheer force of will, getting to the foul line repeatedly. —Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 11 May 2025

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points and tallied eight assists in just 30 minutes of play, shooting 11-for-13 from the field and a perfect 11-for-11 from the foul line. —Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 May 2025

With Gorski running from third, Machado fielded a grounder by Jared Triolo near the back of the dirt cutout and just inside the foul line. —Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 May 2025

The Pistons foul at one of the highest rates in the league, and both Brunson and Towns will get their share of points from the floor and foul line. —Jay Ginsbach, Forbes.com, 17 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)