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

See Examples For:

run for it

"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

Over the years, pursuit suspects have tried to evade police by driving into parking garages or into Los Angeles International Airport, where there are flight restrictions for news choppers, or trying to run for it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 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

In a second, that back door is going to swing open and I'll have no choice but to leap past Liz's mother and make a run for it.

From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi

Related Words

• break
• disappear
• run
• take off
• withdraw