verb
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to run faster, farther, or better than
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to escape from by or as if by running
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to go beyond; exceed
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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outrunsimple
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outrunssimple
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have outrunperfect
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has outrunperfect
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am outrunningprogressive
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are outrunningprogressive
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is outrunningprogressive
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have been outrunningperfect progressive
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has been outrunningperfect progressive
Past
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outransimple
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had outrunperfect
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was outrunningprogressive
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were outrunningprogressive
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had been outrunningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of outrun
Explanation
To outrun someone is to move faster than they do. Your lazy cat might enjoy hunting for mice, although the mice always seem to outrun him in the end. You can outrun an opponent in a race, and you can also watch a video game character outrun a pursuing zombie — outrun can also mean "escape from." Your dog might enjoy chasing cars, never managing to outrun them. More figuratively, you can say that your hopes always outrun the reality of a situation. In other words, what you dream of exceeds what actually happens.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Outrun and in decline - are Rosenior's Chelsea near crisis point?
From BBC • Mar. 23, 2026
Elsewhere, Saoirse Ronan is nominated as best lead actress in a film for her performance in The Outrun.
From BBC • Feb. 14, 2025
Hugh Grant's nomination in the lead actor category for horror film Heretic, and Saoirse Ronan as leading actress for The Outrun, are among some of the surprises.
From BBC • Jan. 15, 2025
For its great coin-op titles – Space Harrier, Outrun, Hang-On – Sega painted azure blue skies that seemed to light up the whole arcade, bathing sallow faces in an iridescent cobalt glow.
From The Guardian • May 29, 2014
No man: The expedition of my violent love Outrun the pauser, reason.
From Shakespearean Tragedy Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth by Bradley, A. C. (Andrew Cecil)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
