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

A statement from the Premier League Match Centre said: "The referee's call of yellow card to Havertz was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the challenge deemed not to be serious foul play."

From BBC • May 18, 2026

“But obviously the pattern of foul play continues,” Bouchouev said in an email to MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Corrections Central Investigation Bureau and the county coroner are investigating, but the sheriff’s office said there were no signs of foul play.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2026

In one viral TikTok video, members of a senior-living community accuse their ex-friend of foul play: taking tiles out of turn and refusing to reveal her “winning” hands.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

The troopers made a cursory examination of the ve-hicle and its environs for signs of foul play and then departed.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer