end run

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR end run ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Football. Also called end sweep, sweep. a running play in which the ball-carrier attempts to outflank the defensive end.

Informal.

an evasive or diversionary maneuver.
an attempt to surmount a difficulty without confronting it directly.

Origin of end run

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for end run

deceive, outfox, outmaneuver, baffle, outdo, circumvent, bamboozle, cheat, gull, confuse, hoax, have, defraud, trick, bewilder, outsmart, top, finagle, beat, overreach

Examples from the Web for end run

Contemporary Examples of end run

Except for one thing: you can't do an end-run around an enumerated right with some sort of semantic game.
You Can't Save Gun Control With Word Games
Megan McArdle
December 19, 2012
Earlier talk of doing an end-run around Karzai's central government was mostly talk, but that seems to be changing.
Is Saving Karzai Worth U.S. Lives?
Reihan Salam
November 12, 2009

Idioms and Phrases with end run

end run

Evasive action, as in The new department head was making an end run around the old hands who opposed her appointment. This term comes from American football, where it denotes an offensive play in which the ball carrier runs around one end of the opposing team's line. [Mid-1900s]