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

Adebayo finished Tuesday’s loss with just seven points on 2-of-13 shooting from the field, 1-of-7 shooting on threes and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, nine rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes. —Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2026

But a late Alex Karaban 3-pointer fell short and the Wolverines iced it at the foul line. —Justin Williams, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2026

Huff scored the final four points at the foul line. —ABC News, 5 Apr. 2026

Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 26 points, with 10 of them coming at the foul line (10-for-11). —Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 4 Apr. 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
• 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)