run around
Britishverb
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(often foll by with) to associate habitually (with)
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to behave in a fickle or promiscuous manner
noun
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informal deceitful or evasive treatment of a person (esp in the phrase give or get the run-around )
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printing an arrangement of printed matter in which the column width is narrowed to accommodate an illustration
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Go about hurriedly here and there, as in I have been running around all day so I want to stay home tonight and relax . [Early 1900s]
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Also, run around with . Associate or consort with socially, as in At college she began to run around with a very liberal group . [Late 1800s]
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Be sexually unfaithful, as in She caught him running around just once too often and finally sued for divorce . [Early 1900s]
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.
Who says you can’t run around and play games with your friends just because you’re a “grown-up”?
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 20, 2026
For Gen, the settled beavers and transformation of habitat more than make up for the run around given by the troublesome two.
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026
It has batting cages, climbing walls, golf simulators and fields to run around in those cleats before walking out with them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 14, 2026
The Italian edged out Norwegian Erlend Blikra and compatriot Matteo Malucelli in the charge to the line at the end of a flat 166km run around Dubai.
From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026
They’re playing on one end of the gym, the floor squeaking as they run around.
From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
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.
