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

Rice swung at the first pitch from left-hander Noah Cameron, a four-seam fastball, to hit a triple that took an awkward bounce off the left field wall and scattered away from Royals left fielder Isaac Collins past the foul line. —Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 28 May 2026

Cleveland shot 12 of 41 from 3-point range and 12 of 19 from the foul line. —Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 24 May 2026

The Cavaliers were 12 of 41 on 3-pointers and 12 of 19 from the foul line. —CBS News, 24 May 2026

The Cavaliers were 12 of 41 on 3-pointers and 12 of 19 from the foul line. —ABC News, 23 May 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
• brucine
• byline

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)