foul tip

American

noun

Baseball.

a pitched ball that glances off the bat into foul territory, usually near the catcher, ruled a strike if the catcher catches it before it hits the ground, otherwise ruled an ordinary foul ball.

Etymology

Origin of foul tip

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

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 tip

“It should be reviewable,” Roberts said of the foul tip.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026

Bucknor’s nightmare week continued when he left a game after a foul tip hit him in the face mask.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, a former big league catcher, said Heim can’t assume that the umpire saw the foul tip or heard anything.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 28, 2024

Murphy took a foul tip off his thumb a few days before officially going on the injured list on Aug. 14.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 11, 2023

A foul tip caught, another wide one haughtily ignored, a strike.

From Rough-Hewn by Canfield, Dorothy

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