runaround

[ ruhn-uh-round ]

noun

1. indecisive or evasive treatment, especially in response to a request:

   Ask for a raise and he'll give you the runaround.

   Synonyms: slip, evasion, dodge

2. Printing. an arrangement of type in which several lines are set in narrower measure than the others in a column to accommodate an illustration, initial, or the like.

Word History and Origins

Origin of runaround¹

1870–75, Americanism; noun use of verb phrase run around

Idioms and Phrases

see get the runaround .

Example Sentences

They’d spoken personally before, and she was tired of getting the runaround.

From Popular-Science

They called it the National Runaround Act and mocked the eagle as the Soviet Duck.

From The Daily Beast

The runaround concluded with King and Brando exchanging lip kisses.

From The Daily Beast

Pembroke watched him hurry off to service a car with a sense of having been given the runaround.

From Project Gutenberg

His reply to that, according to your exhibits, was that they would simply give him the same runaround again.

From Project Gutenberg