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Synonyms

run for it

Idioms  

  1. Also, run for one's life. Depart as fast as possible, either to escape danger or to reach something quickly. For example, You'd better run for it before the teacher catches you, or The bully is coming after you—run for your life! The for it in the first term almost certainly means “for one's life”—that is, to save one's life, a usage that can be literal or hyperbolic. Also see for dear life; make a break for it.

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.

"We just made a run for it straight away, checked into a hotel in Muscat, and there we were just waiting," Chowdhury told the BBC after landing in Stansted on Friday.

From BBC • Mar. 6, 2026

Instead of making a run for it, he resolves to hunker down until the heat is off.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

The party was set to nominate the first Black candidate for president and his very close primary competitor, Hillary Clinton, was the first woman to make a serious run for it.

From Salon • Aug. 21, 2024

Artyom doesn’t have much sympathy for draft dodgers and deserters, though he can see the wisdom in making a run for it.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 25, 2023

Despite it being an older model than the one Manny drove, seeing it makes Jus want to make a run for it.

From "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone

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.