afoul
English
Etymology
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Pronunciation
Adverb
afoul (comparative more afoul, superlative most afoul)
- (archaic, principally nautical) In a state of collision or entanglement.
- The ships’ lines and sails were all afoul.
- 1840, Richard Henry Dana Jr., Two Years Before the Mast, New York: Harper & Bros., Chapter 15, p. 137,[1]
- After paying out chain, we swung clear, but our anchors were no doubt afoul of hers.
- 1849, William F. Lynch, The Naval Officer, Chapter 2, in Graham’s Magazine, Volume 34, Number 3, March 1849,[2]
- The atmosphere was soon thick and stifling, and the crews were working their guns with the energy of desperation, when a severe concussion, followed by a harsh and grating sound, told that the ships were afoul.
- (with of) In a state of entanglement or conflict (with).
- He had a knack for running afoul of the law.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Chapter 29,[3]
- What the devil’s the matter with me? I don’t stand right on my legs. Coming afoul of that old man has a sort of turned me wrong side out.
- 1957, “Still in Business,” Time, 15 December, 1957,[4]
- A hemispheric axiom has it that when a dictator falls afoul of Washington, his opponents are emboldened to try to topple him.
- 1979, Bernard Malamud, Dubin’s Lives, New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, Chapter Two, p. 79,[5]
- Kings came to hear [Vivaldi’s] concerts but in the end he ran afoul of the Pope’s nuncio and fell out of favor, presumably for neglecting to say Mass […]
- 1993, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Gripping Hand, New York: Pocket Books, 1994, Part 1, Chapter 3, p. 28,[6]
- He committed acts which put him afoul of Empire law, details classified, twenty-six years ago.
Usage notes
In contemporary English, afoul is mainly used in the phrases fall afoul (of) and run afoul (of).
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
in a state of entanglement or conflict (with)
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Further reading
- “afoul”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “afoul”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.