foot-faultv.
/ˈfʊtfɔːlt/, /ˈfʊtfɒlt/, U.S. /ˈfʊtˌfɔlt/, /ˈfʊtˌfɑlt/ Sport.
1. transitive. Of an umpire or similar official: to penalize (a player) for a foot fault.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > racket games > lawn tennis > play tennis [verb (intransitive)] > make fault
foot-fault1884
fault1908
double-fault1921
1884 Spectator 26 July 975/1 He was also handicapped by a strained wrist, and was unfortunate in being frequently ‘foot-faulted’ by a vigilant Transatlantic umpire.
1889 W. M. Brownlee Lawn-tennis iii. v. 144 Be careful to put the toe of the left foot on the line, and you are not likely to be foot-faulted.
1927 Daily Express 6 June 1 Tilden was foot-faulted by a special umpire in the fifth game of the third set.
2002 Times 22 Aug. 38/2 During the second-round match, Hewitt became embroiled with a black linesman who twice foot-faulted him.
2. intransitive. Of a player: to commit a foot fault.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > racket games > lawn tennis > play tennis [verb (transitive)] > record foot-fault against
foot-fault1886
1886 J. Dwight Lawn Tennis i. i. 5 Frequently foot-faulting in a match spoils your service altogether.
1902 Westm. Gaz. 23 Oct. 6/2 The New Lawn Tennis Laws. The Foot-Fault Difficulty Abolished... The feet of more than one ‘crack’ had to be carefully watched by relentless linesmen to detect the slightest inclination to foot-fault.
1964 Daily Chron. (Centralia, Washington) 10 Sept. 11 Karen foot-faulted 20 times and served 16 double-faults in the first two sets.
2013 Daily Tel. 7 May 11 His father told him to pull out of a tournament on the grounds that his opponent was repeatedly foot-faulting and the officials were turning a blind eye.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
v.1884