run into
Britishverb
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(also tr) to collide with or cause to collide with
her car ran into a tree
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to encounter unexpectedly
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(also tr) to be beset by or cause to be beset by
the project ran into financial difficulties
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to extend to; be of the order of
debts running into thousands
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Meet or find by chance, as in I ran into an old friend at the concert . [c. 1900]
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See run against , def. 1.
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Collide with, as in The car ran straight into the retaining wall . [c. 1800]
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Incur, as in We've run into extra expenses with the renovation , or James said they've run into debt . [c. 1400]
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Mount up, increase to, as in Her book may well run into a second volume .
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Follow without interruption, as in What with one day running into the next, we never knew just what day it was! or He spoke so fast his words ran into one another . [Late 1600s] Also see run into a stone wall ; run into the ground .
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.
These packages, which often run into thousands of dollars, attract many celebrities and corporate buyers who see the Games as a chance to butter up clients or reward top performers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Rising labor costs have made it easier for warehouse operators to justify the cost of warehouse automation, which can run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, industry experts say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
The reason: A planned move to Santa Clarita has run into “unforeseen permitting and production challenges.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
"The cost to repair the equipment, remove the paint and assess any safety implications or wider damage will run into thousands of pounds."
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Fitzgerald, a boy younger but much bigger than me, was once challenged to run into The Woods and he got attacked by mad squirrels.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
