runaround
Americannoun
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indecisive or evasive treatment, especially in response to a request.
Ask for a raise and he'll give you the runaround.
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Printing. an arrangement of type in which several lines are set in narrower measure than the others in a column to accommodate an illustration, initial, or the like.
Etymology
Origin of runaround
1870–75, noun use of verb phrase run around
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.
She says every effort thereafter to straighten things out met the runaround.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 19, 2025
People generally use “Kafkaesque” as an exaggerated metaphor, perhaps to describe the runaround you get from an insurance company or an especially aggravating trip to the DMV.
From Salon • Apr. 20, 2025
“Every day they call to get an update. Every single day they’re calling. And they get the runaround every single day, repeatedly,” she said.
From New York Times • May 1, 2024
Most of these jokers she interviews on the field, whether they shoot her straight, or give her the runaround, appreciate the inherent warmness she’s shown over the years.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 7, 2024
I tried calling them, and I got the runaround there as well.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
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.
