What is "foul ball"

Foul \Foul\ (foul), a. [Compar. Fouler (-[~e]r); superl. Foulest.] [OE. foul, ful, AS. f[=u]l; akin to D. vuil, G. faul rotten, OHG. f[=u]l, Icel. f[=u]l foul, fetid; Dan. fuul, Sw. ful foul, Goth. f[=u]ls fetid, Lith. puti to be putrid, L. putere to stink, be putrid, pus pus, Gr. py`on pus, to cause to rot, Skr. p[=u]y to stink. [root]82. Cf. Defile to foul, File to foul, Filth, Pus, Putrid.]

1. Covered with, or containing, extraneous matter which is injurious, noxious, offensive, or obstructive; filthy; dirty; not clean; polluted; nasty; defiled; as, a foul cloth; foul hands; a foul chimney; foul air; a ship's bottom is foul when overgrown with barnacles; a gun becomes foul from repeated firing; a well is foul with polluted water.

   My face is foul with weeping.
   --Job. xvi. 16.

2. Scurrilous; obscene or profane; abusive; as, foul words; foul language.

3. Hateful; detestable; shameful; odious; wretched. ``The foul with Sycorax.''
   --Shak.

   Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?
   --Milton.

4. Loathsome; disgusting; as, a foul disease.

5. Ugly; homely; poor. [Obs.]
   --Chaucer.

   Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares.
   --Shak.

6. Not favorable; unpropitious; not fair or advantageous; as, a foul wind; a foul road; cloudy or rainy; stormy; not fair; -- said of the weather, sky, etc.

   So foul a sky clears not without a storm.
   --Shak.

7. Not conformed to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc.; unfair; dishonest; dishonorable; cheating; as, foul play.

8. Having freedom of motion interfered with by collision or entanglement; entangled; -- opposed to clear; as, a rope or cable may get foul while paying it out.

   Foul anchor. (Naut.) See under Anchor.

   Foul ball (Baseball), a ball that first strikes the ground outside of the foul ball lines, or rolls outside of certain limits.

   Foul ball lines (Baseball), lines from the home base, through the first and third bases, to the boundary of the field.

   Foul berth (Naut.), a berth in which a ship is in danger of fouling another vesel.

   Foul bill, or Foul bill of health, a certificate, duly authenticated, that a ship has come from a place where a contagious disorder prevails, or that some of the crew are infected.

   Foul copy, a rough draught, with erasures and corrections; -- opposed to fair or clean copy. ``Some writers boast of negligence, and others would be ashamed to show their foul copies.''
   --Cowper.

   Foul proof, an uncorrected proof; a proof containing an excessive quantity of errors.

   Foul strike (Baseball), a strike by the batsman when any part of his person is outside of the lines of his position.

   To fall foul, to fall out; to quarrel. [Obs.] ``If they be any ways offended, they fall foul.''
   --Burton.

   To fall foul of or To run foul of. See under Fall.

   To make foul water, to sail in such shallow water that the ship's keel stirs the mud at the bottom.

n. (context baseball English) A batted ball that lands in foul territory.

n. (baseball) a ball struck with the bat so that it does not stay between the lines (the foul lines) that define the width of the playing field [ant: fair ball]

In baseball, a foul ball is a batted ball that:

• Settles on foul territory between home and first base or between home and third base, or
• Bounds past first or third base on or over foul territory, or
• First falls on foul territory beyond first or third base, or
• While on or over foul territory, touches the person of an umpire or player, or any object foreign to the natural ground.

A foul fly shall be judged according to the relative position of the ball and the foul line, including the foul pole, and not as to whether the fielder is on foul or fair territory at the time he touches the ball.

Foul territory or foul ground is defined as the area of the field outside of the foul lines. The foul lines and foul poles are not part of foul territory.

In general, when a batted ball is ruled a foul ball, the ball is dead, all runners must return to their time-of-pitch base without liability to be put out, and the batter returns to home plate to continue his turn at bat. A strike is issued for the batter if he had fewer than two strikes. If the batter already has two strikes against him when he hits a foul ball, a strike is not issued unless the ball was bunted to become a foul ball, in which case a third strike is issued and a strikeout recorded for the batter and pitcher. A strike is, however, recorded for the pitcher for every foul ball the batter hits, regardless of the count.