run in the blood

Idioms

Also, run in the family. Be characteristic of a family or passed on from one generation to the next, as in That happy-go-lucky trait runs in the blood, or Big ears run in the family. The first term dates from the early 1600s, the second from the late 1700s.

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.

This apathy does not run in the blood.

From New York Times • Sep. 16, 2020

Idealism seems to run in the blood of Hollywood's new junior class, several of whom grew up in counterculture families.

From Time Magazine Archive

Every time Scoob hears it, he wants to say: Being criminally minded doesn’t run in the blood either.

From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone

Thought it would run in the blood, but I guess not.

From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone

The grand ideas, the master-imaginations and moving faiths of men, run in the blood of the race; and a given degree of pure human heat infallibly brings them out.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 57, July, 1862 by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023