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

Herro was the star of the night, leading the Heat to the win with a game-high 36 points on 13-of-17 shooting from the field, 4-of-6 shooting on threes and 6-of-7 shooting from the foul line to go with three rebounds, four assists and two steals. —Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 28 Mar. 2025

Harden buried the Knicks beneath a 6-of-9 shooting night from downtown plus another seven points on eight attempts at the foul line. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 27 Mar. 2025

The Anteaters went 7 for 7 at the free-throw line down the stretch, while Jacksonville shot 3 for 7 at the foul line, to secure a spot in the quarterfinals of the 32-team tournament. —Lou Ponsi, Oc Register, 23 Mar. 2025

Cousy scores 30 of his points from the foul line. 1959 — California edges West Virginia 71-70 for the NCAA basketball championship. —Austin Knoblauch, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 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)