foul play


noun

any treacherous or unfair dealing, especially involving murder: We feared that he had met with foul play.
unfair conduct in a game.

Origin of foul play

First recorded in 1600–10

British Dictionary definitions for foul play

foul play

noun

unfair or treacherous conduct esp with violence
a violation of the rules in a game or sport

Idioms and Phrases with foul play

foul play

Unfair or treacherous action, especially involving violence. For example, The police suspected he had met with foul play. This term originally was and still is applied to unfair conduct in a sport or game and was being used figuratively by the late 1500s. Shakespeare used it in The Tempest (1:2): “What foul play had we, that we came from thence?”