run afoul of

run a·foul of

R r

Definitions of run afoul of words

idioms run afoul of fall foul / afoul of, to collide with, as ships. to come into conflict with; quarrel. to make an attack; assault. 1
idioms run afoul of foul one's nest, to dishonor one's own home, family, or the like. 1
idioms run afoul of run foul / afoul of, to come into collision or controversy with: to run foul of the press. 1
verb without object run afoul of to become foul. 1
verb without object run afoul of Nautical. to come into collision, as two boats. 1
verb without object run afoul of to become entangled or clogged: The rope fouled. 1

before 1800

One of the 42% newest English words

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

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 83% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer