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.

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Example Sentences

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

"When you see that space you’ve got to run for it," he added.

From BBC • Aug. 19, 2024

In the music video, Gordon’s daughter, Coco Gordon Moore, is a young woman escaping the comforts of home through a bedroom window and making a run for it.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2024

A few feet away from him, as his right foot is stepping off the curb and his head is looking both ways to make a run for it, I stop because it’s gone.

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali

Related Words

• break
• disappear
• run
• take off
• withdraw