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
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
On its face, at least, Do’s behavior does not run afoul of county policies, which allow supervisors to direct money to nonprofits run by their adult children without telling the public about the relationship.
—Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
Some adult content sites like Pornhub have opted to block IP addresses originating from states with these new laws in order to avoid running afoul of the laws.
—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2024
Influencers who successfully navigate the Taliban’s rules may still run afoul of YouTube itself.
—Rick Noack, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2024
The court decided that the US successfully mitigated these concerns by offering assurances that Assange would not face certain treatments that, while commonplace in the US, are widely gauged to run afoul of international law, including the use of extreme isolation.
—Dell Cameron Matt Burgess, WIRED, 26 Mar. 2024
The environmental theme to Cook’s trip — which included opening an expansive new store in Shanghai on Thursday — may have been chosen to avoid falling afoul of geopolitical sensitivities.
—Bloomberg, Fortune, 24 Mar. 2024
In the absence of federal action, both red and blue states have tried to enact their own laws to safeguard kids online, but many have been enjoined by courts for running afoul of the First Amendment.
—Michelle Goldberg, The Mercury News, 21 Mar. 2024
Daniel Tenny, a lawyer for the U.S. Justice Department, said that the Texas law ran afoul of federal law and Supreme Court precedent, particularly a 2012 decision, Arizona v. United States, that was decided when Arizona tried to pass a state immigration enforcement law.
—J. David Goodman, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
Daniel D'addario, Variety, 8 Apr. 2024
On its face, at least, Do’s behavior does not run afoul of county policies, which allow supervisors to direct money to nonprofits run by their adult children without telling the public about the relationship.
—Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
Some adult content sites like Pornhub have opted to block IP addresses originating from states with these new laws in order to avoid running afoul of the laws.
—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2024
Influencers who successfully navigate the Taliban’s rules may still run afoul of YouTube itself.
—Rick Noack, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2024
The court decided that the US successfully mitigated these concerns by offering assurances that Assange would not face certain treatments that, while commonplace in the US, are widely gauged to run afoul of international law, including the use of extreme isolation.
—Dell Cameron Matt Burgess, WIRED, 26 Mar. 2024
The environmental theme to Cook’s trip — which included opening an expansive new store in Shanghai on Thursday — may have been chosen to avoid falling afoul of geopolitical sensitivities.
—Bloomberg, Fortune, 24 Mar. 2024
In the absence of federal action, both red and blue states have tried to enact their own laws to safeguard kids online, but many have been enjoined by courts for running afoul of the First Amendment.
—Michelle Goldberg, The Mercury News, 21 Mar. 2024
Daniel Tenny, a lawyer for the U.S. Justice Department, said that the Texas law ran afoul of federal law and Supreme Court precedent, particularly a 2012 decision, Arizona v. United States, that was decided when Arizona tried to pass a state immigration enforcement law.
—J. David Goodman, New York Times, 20 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.
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 24 Apr. 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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