fall foul of
idiom
: to get into trouble because of failing to do what is required by (the law, a rule, etc.)
After leaving school she fell foul of the law and spent time in jail.
companies that fall foul of labor laws
Examples of fall foul of in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
For financial firms that fall foul of the new rules, EU authorities will have the power to levy fines of up to 2% of their annual global revenues.
—
Ryan Browne, CNBC, 8 Aug. 2024
The beverage maker isn’t the only one to fall foul of the apparent tax crackdown.
—Laura He, CNN, 21 June 2024
And because antitrust and privacy law have been blurring into each other in recent years—regulators have realized that market-dominating companies maintain their positions partly through the accumulation of data—this tactic arguably manages to fall foul of both the GDPR and the DMA.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 17 June 2024
But after this week, Kate and William, the Prince of Wales, will be eager not to fall foul of the traditional media’s (not always infallible) rules on accuracy, Barnett said.
—Alexander Smith, NBC News, 13 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for fall foul of 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Ryan Browne, CNBC, 8 Aug. 2024
The beverage maker isn’t the only one to fall foul of the apparent tax crackdown.
—Laura He, CNN, 21 June 2024
And because antitrust and privacy law have been blurring into each other in recent years—regulators have realized that market-dominating companies maintain their positions partly through the accumulation of data—this tactic arguably manages to fall foul of both the GDPR and the DMA.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 17 June 2024
But after this week, Kate and William, the Prince of Wales, will be eager not to fall foul of the traditional media’s (not always infallible) rules on accuracy, Barnett said.
—Alexander Smith, NBC News, 13 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for fall foul of
Dictionary Entries Near fall foul of
Cite this Entry
“Fall foul of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fall%20foul%20of. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share