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

Larsson was the star of the night for the Heat, finishing with a career-high 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 shooting on threes and 8-of-8 shooting from the foul line, six rebounds and six assists in 38 minutes. —Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 13 Mar. 2026

Adebayo closed the quarter 10 of 16 from the field, including 5 of 8 on 3 pointers, as well as 6 of 7 from the foul line. —Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 11 Mar. 2026

And then came the fourth, when the milestones kept falling despite facing double-, triple- and what once appeared to be a quadruple-team from a Wizards defense that kept sending him to the foul line. —Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 11 Mar. 2026

Malik Moore shot 7 of 13 from the field, including 2 for 6 from 3-point range, and went 2 for 3 from the foul line to finish with 18 points. —ABC News, 11 Mar. 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)