🚫 A rule break 🚫 To break rules 🗯️ Offensive words 🤢 Very bad smell 🦠 Very dirty 🦠 To make dirty ⚾ Outside play area ⚾ To hit outside ⚓ Entangled ✏️ Messy copy

to foul

2 4.2

To hit the ball so it lands outside the marked playing area in baseball

verb
/faʊl/

: batear un foul

It is difficult to foul off pitches to yourself, but I managed to do it.
foul off a pitch
foul the ball
foul off a fastball

So she's striking out on the samples, she's foul balling on the caskets, and here I am knowing no other baseball metaphor.

Examples

Let the record note that I fouled a pitch off the greatest strikeout pitcher ever—a very proud moment.

Blog text (22)
After fouling off two pitches, the batter hit a looping line drive toward shallow left field.

Fiction book (1998)
Foul off the foot of Ibanez...

Moneyball (2011)
Frank takes a big swing... contact... the ball fouls back behind the plate.

Fiction book (2000)
Foul ball up the first baseline, and it is two strikes.

Night Swim (2024)
And he's good at fouling pitches off.

Bite School 2 (2025)
The batter fouls the first pitch; the ball jumps high off the edge of the bat, close enough to almost touch.

Fiction book (2000)
His next pitch was a fastball, but slightly slower than the first one, and I swung at it, fouling the pitch straight back.

Fiction book (1996)
Zim and Morse fouled off several fastballs in the zone (you could hear Carp and FP groaning).

Blog text (5)
With a quick swing, the player fouled the ball off to the left side of the field.

Antonyms

fair

Jargon

6 4.1

A ball hit between the foul lines and in play

Idioms

no harm, no foul

Informal

9 8.4

Nothing bad happened, so it is okay

Phrasal Verbs

to foul up

Informal

18 6.4

To make a mistake that ruins something because you are careless

to cry foul

12 5.6

Complain loudly in public that a decision is unfair

to foul out

Specialized

6 6.6

Get out when a player catches a foul ball you hit

Compounds

foul play

57 5.3

An illegal, violent, or dishonest action that suggests a crime

foul-mouthed

NSFW

15 7.7

A person who often says rude words

foul ball

13 2.8

A ball in baseball hit outside the marked lines that is not in play

foul-smelling

9 4.1

A very strong stink that makes you want to move away

technical foul

Jargon

7 4.3

A penalty called for bad behaviour during play that gives the other team a free throw

foul line

7 3.0

A line on the basketball court where players stand to shoot free throws

personal foul

Specialized

6 3.8

A rule break in sport when a player makes illegal rough contact with an opponent

foul-up

Informal

5 7.7

A serious, embarrassing mistake often caused by confusion or poor planning

party foul

Slang

2 8.2

A rude or embarrassing action at a social gathering that causes trouble

foul-weather gear

1 3.3

Clothing that keeps you dry and warm in rain or storms

foul line

1 3.2

Lines that mark the side edges of a baseball field past first and third base

foul shot

Specialized

1 2.6

A free throw in basketball taken from the line when an opponent breaks the rules

foul-spoken

Offensive

1 8.4

Using rude words that insult other people

foul line

1 3.8

A line on a bowling lane that a player must not cross when they throw

Surface Forms

foul infinitive

fouled past

fouled past participle

fouling present participle

fouls third person singular

Etymology

Foul as a verb in baseball — to hit the ball outside the fair zone — comes from the idea of being 'not right' or 'off target' from old English fūl, so to foul a ball is to make it land where it does not count.