end run

American  

[end ruhn] / ˈɛnd ˈrʌn /

noun

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

2. Informal.

   1. an evasive or diversionary maneuver.

   2. an attempt to surmount a difficulty without confronting it directly.

---

end run Idioms  

1. 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]

---

Etymology

Origin of end run

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05

Example Sentences

Who made an audacious end run around protocol to give the president some really bad news?

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 16, 2025

In such a case, judicial involvement would be to protect the will of the voters, not to serve as an end run around them.

From Slate • Oct. 10, 2024

The company’s lawsuit thus amounts to an end run around the law.

From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2024

Arizona, Nevada and California contend the Navajo Nation is making an end run around another Supreme Court case that divvied up water in the Colorado River’s Lower Basin.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 17, 2023

The plan amounted to a bureaucratic end run around Brown.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Related Words

• baffle
• bamboozle
• circumvent
• deceive
• outdo
• outfox
• outmaneuver