afoul

[ uh-foul ]
/ əˈfaʊl /

adverb, adjective

in a state of collision or entanglement: a ship with its shrouds afoul.

Idioms for afoul

    run/come/fall afoul of,
    1. to become entangled with: The boat ran afoul of the seaweed.
    2. to come into conflict with: The business had fallen afoul of the new government regulations.

Origin of afoul

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10; a-1 + foul

Definition for run afoul of (2 of 3)

Origin of run

before 900; (v.) Middle English rinnen, rennen, partly < Old Norse rinna, renna, partly continuing Old English rinnan; cognate with German rinnen; form run orig. past participle, later extended to present tense; (noun and adj.) derivative of the v.

OTHER WORDS FROM run

Definition for run afoul of (3 of 3)

Origin of foul

before 900; (adj. and noun) Middle English ful, foul, Old English fūl; cognate with Gothic fuls, Old Norse fūll, Old High German fūl; akin to Latin pūs pus, pūtēre to stink, Greek pýon pus; (adv.) Middle English fule, foule, derivative of the adj.; (v.) Middle English fulen, derivative of the adj.

SYNONYMS FOR foul

ANTONYMS FOR foul

3, 24 clean.
5, 6 clear.

synonym study for foul

3. See dirty.

OTHER WORDS FROM foul

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH foul

foul fowl

British Dictionary definitions for run afoul of (1 of 3)

afoul
/ (əˈfaʊl) /

adverb, adjective (postpositive)

(usually foll by of) in or into a state of difficulty, confusion, or conflict (with)
(often foll by of) in or into an entanglement or collision (with) (often in the phrase run afoul of) a yacht with its sails afoul; the boat ran afoul of a steamer

British Dictionary definitions for run afoul of (2 of 3)

See also foul up

Derived forms of foul

foully, adverb

Word Origin for foul

Old English fūl; related to Old Norse fūll, Gothic fūls smelling offensively, Latin pūs pus, Greek puol pus

British Dictionary definitions for run afoul of (3 of 3)

run
/ (rʌn) /

verb runs, running, ran or run

noun

Word Origin for run

Old English runnen, past participle of ( ge) rinnan; related to Old Frisian, Old Norse rinna, Old Saxon, Gothic, Old High German rinnan

Idioms and Phrases with run afoul of (1 of 3)

run afoul of

Also, run foul of. Come into conflict with, as in If you keep parking illegally you'll run afoul of the police. This expression originated in the late 1600s, when it was applied to a vessel colliding or becoming entangled with another vessel, but at the same time it was transferred to non-nautical usage. Both senses remain current.

Idioms and Phrases with run afoul of (2 of 3)

foul

Idioms and Phrases with run afoul of (3 of 3)

run