fall foul

fall foul
a) To collide; to conflict with; to attack (+ on, of, upon)

He was, literally speaking, drunk; which circumstance, together with his natural impetuosity, could produce no other effect than his running immediately up to his daughter, upon whom he fell foul with his tongue in the most inveterate manner [...]

b) To be defeated or thwarted (by); to suffer ( + of)

Sky News fell foul of its own woolly reporting on Tuesday, when it reported "human remains" had been found on Saddleworth Moor. Ever keen to spin a good yarn, they immediately linked the story to moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley - only for the police to emerge seven hours later and announce that, after very careful inspection, they could confirm the carcass was not human [...]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • fall foul of — see under ↑foul • • • Main Entry: ↑fall fall foul of 1. To come into accidental contact with 2. To clash with 3. To assail • • • Main Entry: ↑foul * * * fall foul of …   Useful english dictionary

  • fall foul of — (someone) to upset someone, so that they do not like you and try to harm you. Officials who fall foul of the mayor find themselves exiled to the most boring departments …   New idioms dictionary

  • fall foul of — (something) slightly formal to break a law or a rule, and often be punished. If their market share grows too large, they will fall foul of anti monopoly laws …   New idioms dictionary

  • fall foul of — ► fall foul (or chiefly N. Amer. afoul) of come into conflict with. Main Entry: ↑fall …   English terms dictionary

  • fall foul of — index bicker Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • fall foul of someone — fall foul of (someone) to upset someone, so that they do not like you and try to harm you. Officials who fall foul of the mayor find themselves exiled to the most boring departments …   New idioms dictionary

  • fall foul of something — fall foul of (something) slightly formal to break a law or a rule, and often be punished. If their market share grows too large, they will fall foul of anti monopoly laws …   New idioms dictionary

  • fall foul of somebody — fall foul of ˈsb/ˈsth idiom to get into trouble with a person or an organization because of doing sth wrong or illegal • to fall foul of the law Main entry: ↑foulidiom …   Useful english dictionary

  • fall foul of something — fall foul of ˈsb/ˈsth idiom to get into trouble with a person or an organization because of doing sth wrong or illegal • to fall foul of the law Main entry: ↑foulidiom …   Useful english dictionary

  • fall foul (or N. Amer. afoul) of — come into conflict with. → fall …   English new terms dictionary

  • fall foul or afoul of — idi fall foul or afoul of a) to collide with, as ships b) to quarrel or have a controversy with …   From formal English to slang

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