personal foul

noun

Definition of personal foul

: a foul in a game (such as basketball) involving usually physical contact with or deliberate roughing of an opponent — compare technical foul

Examples of personal foul in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For instance, instead of delay of game or instead of an offside, there could be a personal foul, 15 yards that pushes you back. — Brad Biggs, chicagotribune.com, "The roughing calls in the 4th quarter were debatable, but officials got the spot right for the Broncos’ 2-point conversion play," 16 Sep. 2019 More disconcerting were the 11 penalties for 127 yards, many of those personal foul calls. — Michelle Gardner, azcentral, "Pac-12 football power rankings: Utah strengthens spot at the top," 9 Sep. 2019 Myles Garrett was flagged for punching another opponent, that was a personal foul. — Terry Pluto, cleveland.com, "Cleveland Browns Halftime Scribbles: A ragged, undisciplined performance -- Terry Pluto," 8 Sep. 2019 The penalty was the Browns’ fifth personal foul of the game. — Mark Inabinett | Minabinett@al.com, al, "See what Greg Robinson did to get ejected from Browns’ season-opening game," 8 Sep. 2019 Milford Mill helped with two personal foul calls, and Woodard closed things with an 8-yard touchdown run with 3:42 remaining in the first half. — Jeff Seidel, baltimoresun.com, "Defense leads No. 9 Milford Mill past New Town, 14-12, in nail-biting opener," 7 Sep. 2019 Mission Viejo was then penalized 15 yards on a personal foul, giving La Habra the ball on the 29. — Devin Ugland, Los Angeles Times, "Mission Viejo’s front seven are magnificent once again against La Habra," 6 Sep. 2019 Still, there were four penalties that included a roughing the kicker on a PAT, a personal foul, a hold on a punt return and a sideline infraction on Long’s block. — Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan State football grades: Strong defense, deficient offense vs. Tulsa," 31 Aug. 2019 The league passed the measure after informing teams last month that coaches may be able to challenge a personal foul charged to their team, a called out-of-bounds violation, a goaltending violation or a basket-interference violation. — Alaa Abdeldaiem, SI.com, "Report: NBA Board of Governors Approve Coaches Challenge Flags for 2019-20 Season," 9 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'personal foul.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.