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.
The one-bedroom has enough space to store her bike and for Lottie, her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, to run around.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
Time had punctured the roof with 20 holes and whenever it rained, Baker would run around placing buckets under them and emptying them when they were full, like a game of Whac-A-Mole.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
A spokesperson for the government told the BBC that "every child deserves the space to run around and be a kid" and they are investing £18m to reopen lost play spaces.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
They swim, bike, wrestle, play football and generally run around the house.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
I run around and hop in the front beside her.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
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.
