to fall foul of one
Preserved but no longer current.
To make an assault on someone; to quarrel with, or run up against someone. A sea term, A rope is said to be/ow/1 when it is entangled ; and one ship falls foul of another when it runs against her and pre- vents her free progress.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to fall foul of one” mean?
To make an assault on someone; to quarrel with, or run up against someone. A sea term, A rope is said to be/ow/1 when it is entangled ; and one ship falls foul of another when it runs against her and pre- vents her free progress.
Is “to fall foul of one” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.