run the show
SYNONYMS
be in charge, be in control, be the boss, be at the helm, be in the driving seat, be in the driver's seat, be at the wheel, be in the saddle, pull the strings, be responsible
call the shots
run in
‘he has a history of heart disease, which runs in the family’
SYNONYMS
be common in, be frequently found in, be inherent in
run away
1‘she screamed and the men ran away’
SYNONYMS
flee, run off, make a run for it, run for it, take flight, make off, take off, take to one's heels, make a break for it, bolt, beat a retreat, beat a hasty retreat, make a quick exit, make one's getaway, escape, head for the hills
informal beat it, clear off, clear out, vamoose, skedaddle, split, cut and run, show a clean pair of heels, turn tail, scram, hook it, fly the coop, skip off, do a fade
British informal do a runner, scarper, do a bunk, leg it
North American informal light out, bug out, cut out, peel out, take a powder, skiddoo
Australian informal go through, shoot through
archaic fly, levant
2‘the administration has tried to run away from its responsibilities’
SYNONYMS
evade, dodge, get out of, shirk
avoid, disregard, ignore, take no notice of, pay no attention to, turn one's back on
informal shut one's eyes to, duck, cop out of
3‘Doyle ran away with another man's wife’
SYNONYMS
run off with, elope with
4‘Mario Andretti ran away with the championship’
SYNONYMS
win easily, win hands down
informal win by a mile, walk it, romp home
in the long run
SYNONYMS
eventually, in the end, ultimately, when all is said and done, in the final analysis, in the fullness of time
British informal at the end of the day
on the run
1‘a con man on the run’
SYNONYMS
on the loose, at large, loose
running away, fleeing, in flight, fugitive
informal AWOL
North American informal on the lam
2‘I've been on the run all day’
SYNONYMS
busy, rushing about, rushed off one's feet, dashing about, hurrying about, in a rush, in a hurry, on the move, active
informal on the go
run off
1‘three youths scrambled out of the car and ran off’
SYNONYMS
flee, run away, make a run for it, run for it, take flight, make off, take off, take to one's heels, make a break for it, bolt, beat a retreat, beat a hasty retreat, make a quick exit, make one's getaway, escape, head for the hills, make oneself scarce, decamp, abscond, do a disappearing act
informal beat it, clear off, clear out, vamoose, skedaddle, split, cut and run, show a clean pair of heels, scram, hook it, skip off
British informal do a runner, scarper, do a bunk, have it away, have it away on one's toes, leg it
North American informal light out, bug out, cut out, peel out, take a powder, skiddoo
Australian informal go through, shoot through
British vulgar slang bugger off
archaic fly, levant
2‘his wife ran off with one of the doctors’
SYNONYMS
run away with, elope with, go off with
3‘he ran off with the £1000 in the appeal fund’
SYNONYMS
steal, take, snatch, purloin, abscond with, help oneself to
pilfer, embezzle, misappropriate
informal walk away with, walk off with, swipe, nab, rip off, lift, liberate, filch, snaffle, snitch
British informal pinch, half-inch, whip, knock off, nobble
North American informal heist, glom
Australian informal snavel
West Indian informal tief
run for it
SYNONYMS
flee, make a run for it, run away, run off, take flight, make off, take off, take to one's heels, make a break for it, bolt, beat a retreat, beat a hasty retreat, make a quick exit, make one's getaway, escape, head for the hills, take oneself off, decamp, abscond, do a disappearing act
informal beat it, clear off, clear out, vamoose, skedaddle, split, cut and run, show a clean pair of heels, scram, hook it, fly the coop, do a fade
British informal do a runner, scarper, do a bunk, leg it
North American informal light out, bug out, cut out, peel out, skiddoo
run to
1‘the original bill ran to £22,000’
SYNONYMS
reach, extend to, be as high as, be as much as
amount to, add up to, total, come to, equal
2‘sorry, we can't run to champagne’
SYNONYMS
afford, stretch to, manage, have money for
3‘he was running to fat’
SYNONYMS
tend to, show a tendency to
become, get, grow
run low
‘food supplies were running low’
SYNONYMS
dwindle, diminish, become depleted, get less, be used up, become exhausted, be short, be in short supply, be tight
run rings around someone
‘in a demonstration of classy centre-forward play he ran rings around the opposition’
SYNONYMS
surpass, outshine, outclass, overshadow, eclipse, exceed, excel, transcend, cap, top, outstrip, outdo, put to shame, make look pale by comparison, put in the shade, be better than, beat, outplay, outperform, upstage, dwarf
informal be head and shoulders above, be a cut above, leave standing
archaic outrival, outvie
run something over
‘he quickly ran over the story’
SYNONYMS
recapitulate, repeat, run through, go over, go through, reiterate, review
look through, look over, read through
informal recap
the runs
SYNONYMS
diarrhoea, loose motions, looseness of the bowels
informal the skitters, the trots, Spanish tummy, Delhi belly, Montezuma's revenge, Aztec revenge, Aztec two-step
British informal the squits, gippy tummy, holiday tummy
North American informal turista
dysentery, lientery
archaic the flux, lax
run someone through
‘Campbell threatened to run him through with his sword’
SYNONYMS
stab, pierce, transfix, impale
run along
‘run along now, can't you see I'm busy?’
SYNONYMS
go away, be off with you, shoo, on your way, make yourself scarce
informal scram, buzz off, skedaddle, scat, beat it, get lost, shove off, clear off
British informal hop it
South African informal hamba, voetsak
literary begone, avaunt
run something off
1‘Sophie, would you just run off a list of all the outstanding accounts, please?’
SYNONYMS
copy, photocopy, xerox, duplicate, print, photostat, mimeograph
make, produce, do
2‘run off some of the water that has been standing in the pipes’
SYNONYMS
drain, drain off, bleed off, draw off, pump out
run through
1‘her husband had long ago run through their money’
SYNONYMS
squander, fritter away, spend, spend like water, throw away, dissipate, waste, go through, consume, use up
informal blow
2‘the markedly sceptical attitude that runs through his writings’
SYNONYMS
pervade, permeate, suffuse, imbue, inform, go through
3‘he ran through his notes again’
SYNONYMS
go over, go through, look over, look through, cast one's eye over, take a look at, run over
read, study, scan, peruse, review, examine, inspect
informal give something a once-over, give something the once-over
4‘okay, let's run through scene three again’
SYNONYMS
rehearse, practise, go through, go over, repeat, do again
recapitulate
North American run down
informal recap
run over
1‘the bathwater's running over’
SYNONYMS
overflow, spill over, spill, brim over
rare overbrim
2‘the project ran wildly over budget’
SYNONYMS
exceed, go over, go beyond, overshoot, overreach
run into
1‘the plane was badly damaged when it ran into a parked aircraft’
SYNONYMS
collide with, be in collision with, hit, strike, crash into, smash into, knock into, plough into, barge into, meet head-on, ram
North American impact
2‘I ran into Hugo the other day’
SYNONYMS
meet, meet by chance, run across, chance on, stumble across, stumble on, happen on
informal bump into
archaic run against
3‘the negotiators immediately ran into a problem’
SYNONYMS
experience, encounter, meet with, be faced with, run up against, be confronted with, come face to face with
4‘Peter had been left with debts running into six figures’
SYNONYMS
reach, extend to, be as high as, be as much as
run high
‘patriotic fervour was running high’
SYNONYMS
be strong, be vehement, be fervent, be passionate, be intense
run someone in
SYNONYMS
arrest, take into custody, apprehend, detain, take in, take prisoner, put in jail, throw in jail
pick up, pull in, haul in, bust, nab, nail, do, collar, feel someone's collar
British pinch, nick
run someone or something down
1‘the boy was run down by joyriders’
SYNONYMS
run over, knock down, knock over, knock to the ground
hit, strike
2‘she began to run him down in front of other people’
SYNONYMS
criticize, denigrate, belittle, disparage, deprecate, speak badly off, speak ill of, find fault with
revile, vilify
informal put down, knock, bad-mouth, have a go at
British informal rubbish, slag off
rare derogate, asperse
run out on someone
SYNONYMS
desert, abandon, leave in the lurch, jilt, leave high and dry, discard, cast aside, throw over, turn one's back on
informal walk out on, dump, ditch, leave someone holding the baby, leave flat
archaic forsake
run across
‘we ran across David when we were playing in LA’
SYNONYMS
meet, meet by chance, come across, run into, chance on, stumble across, stumble on, happen on
informal bump into
archaic run against
run up
‘his loose way of living ran up such big debts that he had to get out of town’
SYNONYMS
accumulate, accrue, amass, collect, gather, stockpile, heap up, rack up, build up, scrape together, hoard, lay in, lay up, garner
British tot up
run something down
1‘she finally ran a copy of the book down in Covent Garden’
SYNONYMS
find, discover, locate, track down, trace, run to earth, unearth, hunt out, ferret out
2‘employers should run down their labour forces gradually’
SYNONYMS
reduce, cut back on, cut, downsize, decrease, pare down, trim
phase out, wind down, wind up
run down
‘he was dismayed to discover how much the farm had run down’
SYNONYMS
decline, degenerate, go downhill, become dilapidated, go to seed, fall into decay, decay, go to rack and ruin
informal go to pot, go to the dogs
1‘a run-down area of East London’
SYNONYMS
dilapidated, tumbledown, ramshackle, derelict, ruinous, falling to pieces, decrepit, gone to rack and ruin, in ruins, broken-down, crumbling, decaying, disintegrating
neglected, uncared-for, unmaintained, depressed, down at heel, seedy, shabby, dingy, slummy, insalubrious, squalid
informal shambly, crummy
British informal grotty
North American informal shacky
Australian, New Zealand informal rumpty
2‘by eating more leafy green vegetables you can avoid feeling run down and tense’
SYNONYMS
unwell, ill, poorly, out of sorts, unhealthy, peaky, not oneself, below par, in bad shape
tired, debilitated, drained, exhausted, fatigued, enervated, weak, worn out, washed out
British off, off colour
informal under the weather, crummy
British informal not up to snuff, not feeling up to snuff, ropy, knackered
Scottish informal wabbit
Australian, New Zealand informal crook
vulgar slang crappy
dated seedy, queer
rare peaked, peakish
run someone or something over
SYNONYMS
run down, knock down, knock over, knock to the ground, hit, strike
run out
1‘food supplies were running out’
SYNONYMS
be used up, dry up, be exhausted, be finished, give out, peter out, fail
exhaust
2‘they've run out of cash’
SYNONYMS
have none left, have no more of, be out of
use up, exhaust one's supply of, consume, eat up
sell out of
informal be fresh out of, be cleaned out of
3‘her contract was due to run out’
SYNONYMS
expire, come to an end, end, terminate, finish
lapse, be no longer valid
run on
1‘the call ran on for two and a quarter hours’
SYNONYMS
continue, go on, carry on, last, keep going, extend, stretch
2‘you're right, I do run on a bit at times, sorry’
SYNONYMS
talk incessantly, talk a lot, rattle on, go on, chatter on, gabble on, ramble on
informal yak, gab, yackety-yak, yap, yabber, yatter
British informal rabbit on, witter on, natter on, chunter on, talk the hind leg off a donkey
Scottish, Irish slabber on
North American informal run off at the mouth
Australian, New Zealand informal mag
archaic twaddle, twattle, clack
3‘my thoughts ran too much on death’
SYNONYMS
be preoccupied with, be concerned with, dwell on, focus on, be focused on, revolve around, centre around, be dominated by, be fixated with
run after
‘ever since his school days, girls have been running after him’
SYNONYMS
pursue, chase, make romantic advances to, flirt with
informal make up to, make eyes at, give the come-on to, come on to, be all over
North American informal vamp
dated set one's cap at