afoul of
preposition
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
Biden administration regulators have a number of high-profile cases winding through the courts that will test whether their efforts to toughen up scrutiny of M&A activity will run afoul of case law.
—
Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 24 Apr. 2024
Some in the West have found ways to limit encampments and even clear them out without running afoul of the 9th Circuit rulings.
—Jennifer Ludden, NPR, 22 Apr. 2024
The animated musical features Ariana DeBose as an idealistic youngster who runs afoul of her kingdom's narcissistic ruler (Chris Pine) and befriends an energetic star to help rescue her people's wishes.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 19 Apr. 2024
In other words, awarding him a $45 billion comp deal—down from $56 billion previously due to the drop in Tesla’s share price—risks running afoul of laws prohibiting boardrooms from gifting away assets that belong to their investors.
—Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 18 Apr. 2024
But their past eventually comes back to haunt them in the form of Syndrome, whom Mr. Incredible ran afoul of years earlier.
—Chris Snellgrove, EW.com, 16 Apr. 2024
And government agencies in the United States and Europe are investigating whether the company ran afoul of competition, securities and consumer protection laws in multiple regulatory probes.
—Elizabeth Dwoskin, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024
The answer is Don Hankey, a subprime car loan billionaire who has run afoul of regulators.
—Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 4 Apr. 2024
The season’s mega-arc has been the ongoing uncertainty around the character Larry’s having accidentally run afoul of Georgia election laws.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 8 Apr. 2024
Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 24 Apr. 2024
Some in the West have found ways to limit encampments and even clear them out without running afoul of the 9th Circuit rulings.
—Jennifer Ludden, NPR, 22 Apr. 2024
The animated musical features Ariana DeBose as an idealistic youngster who runs afoul of her kingdom's narcissistic ruler (Chris Pine) and befriends an energetic star to help rescue her people's wishes.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 19 Apr. 2024
In other words, awarding him a $45 billion comp deal—down from $56 billion previously due to the drop in Tesla’s share price—risks running afoul of laws prohibiting boardrooms from gifting away assets that belong to their investors.
—Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 18 Apr. 2024
But their past eventually comes back to haunt them in the form of Syndrome, whom Mr. Incredible ran afoul of years earlier.
—Chris Snellgrove, EW.com, 16 Apr. 2024
And government agencies in the United States and Europe are investigating whether the company ran afoul of competition, securities and consumer protection laws in multiple regulatory probes.
—Elizabeth Dwoskin, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024
The answer is Don Hankey, a subprime car loan billionaire who has run afoul of regulators.
—Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 4 Apr. 2024
The season’s mega-arc has been the ongoing uncertainty around the character Larry’s having accidentally run afoul of Georgia election laws.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 8 Apr. 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.
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 1 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
afoul of
preposition1
: 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
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