run into
Britishverb
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(also tr) to collide with or cause to collide with
her car ran into a tree
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to encounter unexpectedly
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(also tr) to be beset by or cause to be beset by
the project ran into financial difficulties
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to extend to; be of the order of
debts running into thousands
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Meet or find by chance, as in I ran into an old friend at the concert . [c. 1900]
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See run against , def. 1.
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Collide with, as in The car ran straight into the retaining wall . [c. 1800]
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Incur, as in We've run into extra expenses with the renovation , or James said they've run into debt . [c. 1400]
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Mount up, increase to, as in Her book may well run into a second volume .
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Follow without interruption, as in What with one day running into the next, we never knew just what day it was! or He spoke so fast his words ran into one another . [Late 1600s] Also see run into a stone wall ; run into the ground .
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.
The 99-yard return looked like it might turn the tide for the Trojans, until, on the next drive, Rutgers busted a 49-yard run into the red zone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
But as usual, he can’t help but break through the fence and run into traffic.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
After Bryan encounters a cop, a dog and an elderly couple living in the country, all of whom run into trouble, the movie essentially becomes a third-person-shooter videogame that takes place in a single night.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Odegaard scored after a perfectly timed, intelligent run into the box that allowed him to step on to Kai Havertz's clever dummy before sending an emphatic finish past Chelsea keeper Emiliano Martinez.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Often the phrases in a melody will run into each other, cut each other short, or overlap.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
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.
