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run an errand

Idioms  

  1. Go to perform a commission, as in I spent the morning running household errands—to the cleaners, the supermarket, the hardware store. [c. 1500]

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.

Elizabeth Alvarez has been searching for her brother since 2013, when the 31-year-old left his home to run an errand in Mexico City.

From Barron's • Nov. 29, 2025

Walz took it upon himself to run an errand other governors might pawn off on a staffer.

From Salon • Aug. 7, 2024

Another moment of good timing came in 1988 when Brooks went to run an errand at H.G.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2024

He and his wife had just gotten in their own car to run an errand when they heard the boom and saw the SUV apparently on fire.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 18, 2024

I had pulled into the parking lot of our local pharmacy to run an errand, and checked my skin in the rearview mirror like I often did before getting out of the car.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi

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.