afoul

Etymology

a- + foul

adv

1. (archaic, principally nautical) In a state of collision or entanglement.
   The ships’ lines and sails were all afoul.
   After paying out chain, we swung clear, but our anchors were no doubt afoul of hers. 1840, Richard Henry Dana Jr., chapter 15, in Two Years Before the Mast, New York: Harper & Bros., page 137
   1849, William F. Lynch, The Naval Officer, Chapter 2, in Graham’s Magazine, Volume 34, Number 3, March 1849, 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.
2. (with of) In a state of entanglement or conflict (with).
   He had a knack for running afoul of the law.
   A hemispheric axiom has it that when a dictator falls afoul of Washington, his opponents are emboldened to try to topple him. 15 December 1957, “Still in Business”, in Time
   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 […] 1979, Bernard Malamud, chapter 2, in Dubin’s Lives, New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, page 79
   He committed acts which put him afoul of Empire law, details classified, twenty-six years ago. 1993, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, The Gripping Hand, New York: Pocket Books, published 1994, Part 1, Chapter 3, p. 28