Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
run afoul en · VERB
Meanings
-
(intransitive, transitive) To become entangled or in conflict with.
Propellers can run afoul in heavy seaweed, and ships are said to be afoul when they collide.
1995, James Laurence Pelletier, Mariner's Employment Guide, page 514:At last we hove in sight of the Pacific, and run afoul one of those villainous head winds which you know often set into the west end of the Straits.
1857, Thomas Jefferson Farnham, Life, Adventures, and Travels in California, page 407:
Forms
Relateds
run afoul of