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runaround

[ruhn-uh-round]
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noun
  1. indecisive or evasive treatment, especially in response to a request: Ask for a raise and he'll give you the runaround.
  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.

Origin of runaround

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

Synonyms

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1. dodge, evasion, slip.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for runaround

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

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

    The Perfectionists

    Arnold Castle

Word Origin and History for runaround

n.

also run-around, "deceptive, evasive treatment," 1915, from verbal phrase, from run (v.) + around (adv.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with runaround

runaround

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.