run to earth

Idioms

Also, run to ground. Track down, find, as in Somehow we have to run those relatives of hers to earth, or It won't be easy, but I'm sure we can run that jewelry to ground. This expression comes from hunting, where hounds run their quarry to the earth or ground, that is, to their lair. Its figurative use dates from the mid-1800s.

Example Sentences

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run to earth

And after a spree of notoriety, Ed Trafton is run to earth and locked away in Leavenworth.

From Time Magazine Archive

Foote was run to earth just once, fortunately for him in neutral Switzerland.

From Time Magazine Archive

Reynard Norman was run to earth last week at the Lord Mayor's Banquet in London's stately Mansion House.

From Time Magazine Archive

Arrin Thorpe, one of the two missing prospectors had been run to earth, had revealed that he had contributed $6,000 to van Steck's treasure hunt, but had not seen a speck of gold.

From Time Magazine Archive

“I would have stood my ground when the chance was offered. Now we have let ourselves be run to earth like foxes.”

From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander

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