foul play

noun

: violence
especially : murder

Examples of foul play in a Sentence

There is no evidence of foul play. the coroner ruled that there was no evidence of foul play
Recent Examples on the Web There's no evidence of foul play, according to authorities. Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 18 Mar. 2024 Perry’s manner of death was ruled an accident and there were no signs of foul play. Kevin Dolak, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Mar. 2024 The investigation is ongoing although no foul play is suspected. Brian Brant, Peoplemag, 4 Mar. 2024 While mistakes do happen at times when votes are counted, those are typically a result of simple human error, not foul play, and there are processes in place to catch and fix them, officials note. Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2024 After recovering it, foul play is not suspected in his death, Crean said. Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 3 Mar. 2024 That means a situation like the 2009 crash of Air France 447 — a functional plane that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean without suspicion of foul play and was only found after two years — should theoretically never happen again. Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 26 Feb. 2024 At the time, investigators said the body showed clear signs of foul play. Juliana Kim, NPR, 25 Feb. 2024 White said there were no signs of suicide or foul play. Rebecca Aizin, Peoplemag, 6 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'foul play.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1546, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of foul play was in 1546

Dictionary Entries Near foul play

Cite this Entry

“Foul play.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foul%20play. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

foul play

noun
: unfair dealing : dishonest conduct
especially : violence sense 1
a victim of foul play

More from Merriam-Webster on foul play

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