intentional foul

American

noun

Basketball.

a foul deliberately committed by a defensive player to stop play, tactically conceding the penalty of having the fouled player attempt the awarded foul shots in return for possession of the ball.

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intentional foul

On both occasions, Philadelphia's claims of an intentional foul were rejected by officials.

From Barron's ● Jan. 25, 2026

After an intentional foul, she iced the victory with two more free throws.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2024

Petree celebrated the call and made contact with an opponent, leading to an intentional foul.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 16, 2023

Belibi went down hard late in the third on an intentional foul call against Loville.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 2, 2023

And the referee signaled that Ben was to shoot two foul shots for an intentional foul.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

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