run for it

Idioms  

1. Also, run for one's life. Depart as fast as possible, either to escape danger or to reach something quickly. For example, You'd better run for it before the teacher catches you, or The bully is coming after you—run for your life! The for it in the first term almost certainly means “for one's life”—that is, to save one's life, a usage that can be literal or hyperbolic. Also see for dear life; make a break for it.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

run for it

When she saw the fire she knew to leave, packing as much as she could before making a run for it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

"We just made a run for it straight away, checked into a hotel in Muscat, and there we were just waiting," Chowdhury told the BBC after landing in Stansted on Friday.

From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026

Instead of making a run for it, he resolves to hunker down until the heat is off.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025

Evolutionarily, triggering the sympathetic nervous system or “fight or flight” response was helpful for survival when human beings were threatened by wild animals or needed to make a run for it.

From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2024

I count to ten and make a run for it.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Related Words

• break
• disappear
• run
• take off
• withdraw