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Glite Dictionary
foul shot

foul shot

3 2.6
A free throw in basketball taken from the line when an opponent breaks the rules
  • noun
  • /faʊl ʃɑt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : tiro libre
  • The player stepped up to the line and calmly sank his first foul shot.
  • made foul shots
  • hit the foul shot
  • two foul shots

But Rick Berry shot every single one of his foul shots underhand like this.

Examples

  • I shot six hundred foul shots, one hundred on each of the rims.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The city was deserted, with only a boy her age practicing foul shots at a netless backboard in a park.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Hey, Dad, can you help me with my foul shots tomorrow?

    Black Dog (1998)

  • There's the foul shot, it's up and good.

    The Mighty Macs (2011)

  • Where'd you learn to shoot your foul shots like that?

    It Came from Hollywood (1982)

  • He hung in there, hit the shot at the end, and made the foul shot.

    Blog text (23)

  • He's also drawing 3 foul shots per game this season as opposed to 5 last year.

    Blog text (8)

  • And Mr. Duncan, you know you could lead the league in rebounds... if you'd just get that foul shot together.

    Eddie (1996)

  • They thrive off of offensive rebounds, earn a ton of foul shots, and often work inside-out.

    Blog text (34)

  • The Huskies got two offensive rebounds on their next possession and ran the clock down to 2:04 before Gaddy hit a pair of foul shots.

    Blog text (34)

Synonyms

free throw
vsfoul shot
50 2.8

A shot taken from the free-throw line without being blocked after a foul

is the general term used in everyday descriptions
penalty free throw
vsfoul shot
2.7

A shot taken from the foul line after a foul by the other team

is the neutral name without the penalty label
charity throw
vsfoul shot
  • US
2.3

A shot from the foul line taken after a foul that scores one point

is the neutral sporting term without idiom
charity toss
vsfoul shot
  • US
2.7

A shot from the foul line that a player takes after a foul without anyone trying to stop it

is the standard technical label rather than casual phrasing
charity shot
vsfoul shot
  • US
3.4

A shot you take from the free throw line after a foul

is the formal descriptive term used in rules and scorekeeping

Surface Forms

foul shot singular
foul shots plural

Morphology

foul + shot

The meaning 'an attempt to score awarded because of a foul' is directly and compositionally derived from 'foul' (a rule-breaking action) + 'shot' (an attempt to score). This straightforward noun–noun combination follows regular English compounding patterns and is conceptually similar in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely understand it.

Etymology

Foul shot comes from basketball. When a player breaks the rules with a foul, they are given the chance to take a free shot from the foul line without defenders, so the phrase means the 'free throw' or 'penalty' shot a player takes after a foul.