runaround

[ruhn-uh-round]

noun

1. indecisive or evasive treatment, especially in response to a request.

   Ask for a raise and he'll give you the runaround.

   Synonyms: slip, evasion, dodge

2. 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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of runaround¹

1870–75, noun use of verb phrase run around

Idioms and Phrases

see get the runaround.

Example Sentences

She says every effort thereafter to straighten things out met the runaround.

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The agencies, he said, gave him the runaround and he couldn’t get anyone to answer his calls — which he said was perplexing, considering the rapid response when he alerted them to infected cattle.

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Wyatt’s interiority, shy smile and young Jeff Tweedy vibe makes him immediately the most intriguing Runaround.

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A character trying to get to the bottom of her neighbor’s disappearance at the Ministry’s records office is instructed to obtain a form from Information Adjustments and bring it to Information Retrieval, which subject her to an endless runaround.

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The runaround, as we would call it.

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