run in place

Idioms  

1. Work or exert oneself without noticeable change or progress. For example, I've worked on this project for months but feel I'm running in place. This idiom employs in place in the sense of “on one spot,” a usage dating from the late 1200s.

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Example Sentences

Instead, they bathed in creeks and slept on the floor, waking up at dawn to run in place and do push-ups.

From New York Times • Oct. 19, 2022

Cochran would have liked “Race Against the Machines,” a station that calculates how quickly visitors run in place.

From Washington Post • Oct. 12, 2022

It happened in 1992 in Detroit when Erik Kramer backed up Rodney Peete after making a playoff run in place of an injured Peete in 1991.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 5, 2022

Alterative road transport will run in place of cancelled services, it said.

From BBC • Jan. 20, 2021

Then, he jumped up from the floor and began to run in place.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy