All about "run"

Let's take a look today at different idioms, or slang expressions, that are based on the verb "to run" and its noun version, "run." The primary meaning of "to run" is, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "to go faster than a walk; specifically, to go steadily by springing steps so that both feet leave the ground for an instant in each step." But there are a lot of other uses for this handy word whose meanings are meant as a figure of speech.

It's no secret that the both of us are running out of time

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It just was a movie that didn't end with all the pizzazz that it should have because they ran out of money by the end.

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To "run out" of something means that you will soon have no more of something left. The phrase "to run out of gas" literally means that your car will soon have no more gas. But it is also a figure of speech meaning that you are getting tired and have very little energy left. "I wanted to finish my homework, but I ran out of gas."

In the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on.

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The phrase "in the long run" means over a long period of time, or eventually.

Yeah, she'd stay there till her blood ran cold.

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The saying "blood runs cold" means that somebody gets very frightened and fears for the worst.

And wonder runs in the family.

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If something "runs in the family," it suggests that some kind of illness is inherited in a family or some kind of behavior is seen in a family, as if it were inherited.

I was running late and I decided in order to make up the time, that I was gonna speed my car.

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To be "running late" does not necessarily mean that you are literally running—although people do often run when they are late—but simply that you are late for something like an appointment.

Further Learning
See if you can guess the meaning of the following figures of speech using "run." The answers are at the very bottom of the page, so you can check them afterwards.

A. to get off to a running start
B. to make a run for it
C. to run a fever or temperature
D. to run a tight ship
E. to run around in circles
F. to run into a stone wall
G. to run someone ragged

You can also go to Yabla English and find more videos that use run, running, ran etc. to see the different phrases used by native English speakers.

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A. to start something, such a project, very quickly and efficiently
B. to escape something, whether literally by running or any other means
C. to have a fever or a high temperature
D. to supervise very effectively and efficiently
E. to be inefficient, wasting time
F. to be stopped from making progress
G. to exhaust somebody by giving them too many tasks

Topics Verbs Vocabulary

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