Synonyms

foul shot

American

noun

Basketball.

a throw from the foul line, given a player after a foul has been called against an opponent.
a score of one point made on this throw.

foul shot British

noun

Also called: free throw. basketball an unimpeded shot at the basket from the free-throw line given for a technical fault (one free shot) or a foul (two free shots)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of foul shot

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

foul shot

Jalen Hood-Schifino then missed a 3 and Camren Wynter hit another foul shot to help the Nittany Lions close it out.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 11, 2023

That included waiting out a timeout by Northern Kentucky before his final foul shot.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 6, 2023

George missed the technical foul shot, but Nicolas Batum added a jumper after that to leave the Clippers up 89-78 entering the fourth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2022

That was a foul shot and he lost the point as a result, meaning he did not get the break opportunity and Medvedev went on to hold.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2022

The company had arranged with the National Basketball Association to have one lucky kid take a foul shot during halftime of Game 1 of the NBA Finals in June.

From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023