Synonyms

run rings around

Idioms

Also, run circles around. Be markedly superior to, as in Ethan runs rings around David in chess, or In spelling, Karen runs circles around her classmates. The first term, dating from the late 1800s, alludes to a horse running around a riding ring much faster than the others.

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run rings around

He described Delap as playing with a "real edge", Rogers as "really good and really humble", and Palmer as a player who "used to run rings around opponents" and would "never get nervous".

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

"I kept having DOJ run rings around me. Right now, as we speak, we have our team of attorneys going through that document in great detail."

From Fox News ● Dec. 9, 2019

The women’s team has run rings around the men’s team.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 10, 2019

In these improvisational shows in Brooklyn, the members of Freestyle Repertory Theater divide into two teams and try to run rings around each other — or, in this case, rhymes.

From New York Times ● Apr. 11, 2019

For sheer cleverness she could run rings around them all.

From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl

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

run rings around

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