60 to run its course → see course
61 to run deep → see deep
62 to run an errand → see errand
63 to run the gamut of something → see gamut
64 to run the gauntlet → see gauntlet
65 to run rings around someone → see ring ➋
66 to run riot → see riot
67 to run a risk → see risk
68 to run to seed → see seed
69 to run wild → see wild
▸ run across PHRASAL VERB If you run across someone or something, you meet them or find them unexpectedly. □ [V P n] We ran across some old friends in the village.
▸ run after PHRASAL VERB If you are running after someone, you are trying to start a relationship with them, usually a sexual relationship. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ [V P n] By the time she was fifteen she was already running after men twice her age.
▸ run around PHRASAL VERB If you run around , you go to a lot of places and do a lot of things, often in a rushed or disorganized way. □ [V P ] No one noticed we had been running around emptying bins and cleaning up. □ [V P + after ] I spend all day running around after the family. □ [V P n] I will not have you running around the countryside without my authority. [Also V P + with ]
▸ run away
1 PHRASAL VERB If you run away from a place, you leave it because you are unhappy there. □ [V P + from ] I ran away from home when I was sixteen. □ [V P ] After his beating Colin ran away and hasn't been heard of since. □ [V P + to ] Three years ago I ran away to Mexico to live with a circus.
2 PHRASAL VERB If you run away with someone, you secretly go away with them in order to live with them or marry them. □ [V P + with ] She ran away with a man called McTavish last year. □ [V P together ] He and I were always planning to run away together.
3 PHRASAL VERB If you run away from something unpleasant or new, you try to avoid dealing with it or thinking about it. □ [V P + from ] They run away from the problem, hoping it will disappear of its own accord. □ [V P ] You can't run away for ever.
4 → see also runaway
▸ run away with PHRASAL VERB If you let your imagination or your emotions run away with you, you fail to control them and cannot think sensibly. □ [V P P n] You're letting your imagination run away with you.
▸ run by PHRASAL VERB If you run something by someone, you tell them about it or mention it, to see if they think it is a good idea, or can understand it. □ [V n P n] Run that by me again.
▸ run down
1 PHRASAL VERB If you run people or things down , you criticize them strongly. □ [V n P ] He last night denounced the British 'genius for running ourselves down'. □ [V P n] …that chap who was running down state schools.
2 PHRASAL VERB If people run down an industry or an organization, they deliberately reduce its size or the amount of work that it does. [mainly BRIT ] □ [V P n] The government is cynically running down the welfare system.
3 PHRASAL VERB If someone runs down an amount of something, they reduce it or allow it to decrease. [mainly BRIT ] □ [V P n] But the survey also revealed firms were running down stocks instead of making new products.
4 PHRASAL VERB If a vehicle or its driver runs someone down , the vehicle hits them and injures them. □ [V n P ] Lozano claimed that motorcycle driver Clement Lloyd was trying to run him down.
5 PHRASAL VERB If a machine or device runs down , it gradually loses power or works more slowly. □ [V P ] The batteries are running down.
6 → see also run-down
▸ run into
1 PHRASAL VERB If you run into problems or difficulties, you unexpectedly begin to experience them. □ [V P n] They agreed to sell last year after they ran into financial problems.
2 PHRASAL VERB If you run into someone, you meet them unexpectedly. □ [V P n] He ran into Krettner in the corridor a few minutes later.
3 PHRASAL VERB If a vehicle runs into something, it accidentally hits it. □ [V P n] The driver failed to negotiate a bend and ran into a tree.
4 PHRASAL VERB You use run into when indicating that the cost or amount of something is very great. □ [V P amount] He said companies should face punitive civil penalties running into millions of pounds.
▸ run off
1 PHRASAL VERB If you run off with someone, you secretly go away with them in order to live with them or marry them. □ [V P + with ] The last thing I'm going to do is run off with somebody's husband. □ [V P together ] We could run off together, but neither of us wants to live the rest of our lives abroad.
2 PHRASAL VERB If you run off copies of a piece of writing, you produce them using a machine. □ [V P n] If you want to run off a copy sometime today, you're welcome to. [Also V n P n]
▸ run out
1 PHRASAL VERB If you run out of something, you have no more of it left. □ [V P + of ] They have run out of ideas. □ [V P ] We had lots before but now we've run out.