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.

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

From Literature

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

From Literature

This apathy does not run in the blood.

From New York Times

“Bet you can fix a car up too, if you care to. Things like that run in the blood.”

From Literature

Cricket appears to run in the blood for one County Londonderry family who have made history twice in one week.

From BBC

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