foul play

American  

noun

1. any treacherous or unfair dealing, especially involving murder.

   We feared that he had met with foul play.

2. unfair conduct in a game.

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foul play British  

noun

1. unfair or treacherous conduct esp with violence

2. a violation of the rules in a game or sport

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foul play Idioms  

1. Unfair or treacherous action, especially involving violence. For example, The police suspected he had met with foul play. This term originally was and still is applied to unfair conduct in a sport or game and was being used figuratively by the late 1500s. Shakespeare used it in The Tempest (1:2): “What foul play had we, that we came from thence?”

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Etymology

Origin of foul play

First recorded in 1600–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

foul play

Police did not release a cause of death but said a preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

A preliminary investigation “has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances,” the statement reads.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

Metropolitan Police found the 41-year-old dead at a south London address and stated there was no indication of foul play.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

A post-mortem examination is under way and toxicology tests to determine the cause of death could help confirm if foul play was involved.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

When the girl’s stepfather, Henry Smith, noticed her disappearance, he suspected foul play and set out to search for her in the woods near the Negro community of Egypt Town just outside of New London.

From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez