fall/run afoul of
idiom
chiefly US
: to get into trouble because of not obeying or following (the law, a rule, etc.)
After leaving home he fell afoul of the law.
an investor who has run afoul of stock market rules
Examples of fall/run 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
The lawyer and human rights activist Arnon Nampa is serving two consecutive four-year terms for speech acts that ostensibly fall afoul of the law.
—Paul Kreitman, Foreign Affairs, 23 Apr. 2024
The report identified multiple problems with UW-Madison's leave policies, including employees receiving no guidance on how to take maternity leave and supervisors potentially attempting to shorten or prevent unpaid leave, which may run afoul of the federal gender-discrimination law.
—Kelly Meyerhofer, Journal Sentinel, 9 Apr. 2024
Internet users appearing to use VPNs to blatantly run afoul of new legislation could incentivize lawmakers to clamp down on the technology.
—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 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
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
The case never got that far, but Wolfe had run afoul of ABA and Utah Bar rules, as his guilty plea admits.
—David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 7 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
Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 24 Apr. 2024
The lawyer and human rights activist Arnon Nampa is serving two consecutive four-year terms for speech acts that ostensibly fall afoul of the law.
—Paul Kreitman, Foreign Affairs, 23 Apr. 2024
The report identified multiple problems with UW-Madison's leave policies, including employees receiving no guidance on how to take maternity leave and supervisors potentially attempting to shorten or prevent unpaid leave, which may run afoul of the federal gender-discrimination law.
—Kelly Meyerhofer, Journal Sentinel, 9 Apr. 2024
Internet users appearing to use VPNs to blatantly run afoul of new legislation could incentivize lawmakers to clamp down on the technology.
—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 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
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
The case never got that far, but Wolfe had run afoul of ABA and Utah Bar rules, as his guilty plea admits.
—David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 7 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
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fall/run 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 fall/run afoul of
Cite this Entry
“Fall/run afoul of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fall%2Frun%20afoul%20of. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share