Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- In a state of collision or entanglement: with of: as, a ship with its shrouds afoul; the brig ran afoul of the steamer.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb In collision; entangled.
- adverb to run against or come into collision with, especially so as to become entangled or to cause injury.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb In a state of
entanglement orconflict with.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective especially of a ship's lines etc
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I was late getting to my tree stand because of work and was in afoul mood anyways.
what is your closest call to a bad experience while hunting? 2009
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I was late getting to my tree stand because of work and was in afoul mood anyways.
what is your closest call to a bad experience while hunting? 2009
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The 52 year old Stern had previously run 'afoul' of the US Federal Communications Commission, fining him and commercial radio stations carrying his syndicated interview show for indecency/obscenity violations.
Archive 2006-02-01 Michael Stevens 2006
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Because they depend upon the low cost labor force provided by illegal workers and Rick Perry has done nothing to either stop the flow or enforce the law on those who run "afoul" of the law including chicken cluckers.
Bay Area Houston 2010
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A closer examination, however, would find, IMHO, that they are already so far "afoul" and afield from their Constitutional authority that most of these earmarks, and quite possibly the process itself, would not pass Constitutional muster.
EckerNet.Com 2009
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Zupan 1914-87 ran afoul of Yugoslavia's communist censors, but his reputation survived and later grew after tiny Slovenia became independent in the early 1990s.
In Brief: Literature Cameron McWhirter 2011
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For example, Fannie and Freddie are pushing banks to repurchase any defaulted loans that they can prove ran afoul of underwriting standards, even if the loan went bad for another reason, such as job loss.
Economists See Ways to Aid Housing Market Nick Timiraos 2012
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But American doctors whose patients run afoul of a duck, macaw, parrot, goose, turkey or chicken will be able to select from nine codes for each animal, notes George Alex, an official at the Advisory Board Co., a health-care research firm.
Walked Into a Lamppost? Hurt While Crocheting? Help Is on the Way Anna Wilde Mathews 2011
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As for Jane and Brad, running afoul of trick-or-treaters as they housesit in the suburbs, they could just stay there for as much as they add to this show.
Matt's Guide to Wednesday TV: Halloween Hilarity and Horror, South Park and More! 2011
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But such newfound resolve on the part of Arab officials is likely to run afoul to the old-fashioned norms that still determine the Middle East's diplomatic contours.
Syria Rebuke Roils Mideast Nour Malas 2011
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