1
: in or into conflict with
ran afoul of the law
2
: in or into collision or entanglement with

Examples of afoul of in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Some lawmakers have worried that the bill could exceed Congress’s mandate by mentioning TikTok specifically, running afoul of a constitutional ban on targeting individuals in laws. Sapna Maheshwari, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2024 His private parts were strategically covered so as not to run afoul of FCC standards. Michael Schneider, Variety, 11 Mar. 2024 The government has tightly restricted what can be said and worn in online appearances, and two influencers said they were detained and interrogated after running afoul of the Taliban’s rules. Rick Noack, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2024 Meta has started training large language models on its community guidelines, to potentially use them to help determine whether a piece of content runs afoul of its policies. Caroline Mimbs Nyce, The Atlantic, 8 Mar. 2024 European regulators signaled Apple's rejection of Epic's effort to set up an iPhones app developer account in Europe, based in Sweden, might run afoul of the DMA, raising the specter of potentially a substantial fine. Michael Liedtke, Quartz, 8 Mar. 2024 The onlookers just watched the raptor try to pick off a duckling and run afoul of the mother duck. Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 28 Feb. 2024 The council says policies such as those enacted last year in eight states run afoul of those standards. USA TODAY, 16 Feb. 2024 The state officials said the accounts that were stolen to run ads on Facebook often run afoul of its rules while doing so, leading them to be permanently suspended, punishing the victims—often small business owners—twice over. Dell Cameron, WIRED, 6 Mar. 2024

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

Word History

Etymology

afoul "fouled, tangled," from a- entry 1 + foul entry 1

First Known Use

1819, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of afoul of was in 1819

Dictionary Entries Near afoul of

Cite this Entry

“Afoul of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/afoul%20of. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

afoul of

preposition
1
: in or into collision or entanglement with
one ship ran afoul of the other
2
: in or into conflict with
they fell afoul of the law
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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