Phrase guide

run into

verb · 13 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To enter by running.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: literally

Qualifier: intransitive but with prepositional object

Examples

  • He ran into the building.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To collide with.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: intransitive but with prepositional object

Examples

  • He lost control of the vehicle and ran into a tree.
  • I've sustained some front-end damage after running into a pothole.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To cause to collide with.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: transitive and with prepositional object

Examples

  • He lost control of the vehicle and ran it into a tree.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To unexpectedly encounter or meet someone or something (literally or figuratively).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Qualifier: intransitive but with prepositional object

Examples

  • I ran into your cousin the other day.
  • Everything was going according to plan until we ran into the legal problems.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To reach, to flow into (a body of water).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated

Qualifier: intransitive but with prepositional object

Examples

  • 1849, Charles Anthon, A System of Ancient and Mediæval Geography, for the Use of Schools and Colleges, Harper & Brothers, Publishers (1871), page 58, Œāso, on the coast, at the northern extremity of the Pyrenees, where the River Magrăda, now Urumea, runs into the sea.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To blend into; to be followed by or adjacent to without there being a clear boundary.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: intransitive but with prepositional object

Examples

  • 2003, Julie M. Crandall and Mary Helen Brown, "The Millennium Waltz: A Story in Three-Quarter Time", Chapter 18 in Robin Patric Clair (ed.), Expressions of Ethnography: Novel Approaches to Qualitative Methods, SUNY Press, →ISBN, page 189, Of course, a show might start at a certain time, and one must place bets at the sports book at the right time, but for the most part, day runs into night and night runs into day without notice or comment.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To cause to blend into.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: transitive and with prepositional object

Examples

  • You can use the paintbrush this way to run the colors into each other.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

verb

Meaning 8

To reach a large figure.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • By the end, the cost of the project ran into the millions of dollars.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

verb

Meaning 9

To amount to.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • debts running into millions

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

verb

Meaning 10

hit against; come into sudden contact with

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The car hit a tree
  • He struck the table with his elbow

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hit, strike, impinge on, collide with

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: touch

Narrower terms: stub, ping, spang, bang, rear-end, broadside, connect, spat, thud, bottom, bottom out, bump, knock, run into, bump into, jar against, butt against, knock against, collide, clash, glance

11

verb

Meaning 11

collide violently with an obstacle

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • I ran into the telephone pole

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bump into, jar against, butt against, knock against

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: hit, strike, impinge on, run into, collide with

12

verb

Meaning 12

come together

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • I'll probably see you at the meeting
  • How nice to see you again!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: meet, encounter, run across, come across, see

Antonyms: none provided

Narrower terms: intersect, cross

13

verb

Meaning 13

be beset by

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The project ran into numerous financial difficulties

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: encounter

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: be

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Russian: вбега́ть (vbegátʹ) — to enter by running
  • Russian: вбежа́ть (vbežátʹ) — to enter by running
  • Norwegian: kjøre på en — to collide with
  • Polish: najechać — to collide with
  • Polish: najeżdżać — to collide with
  • Russian: нае́хать (najéxatʹ) — to collide with
  • Russian: наезжа́ть (najezžátʹ) — to collide with
  • Spanish: darse de bruces con — to collide with
  • Spanish: dar de bruces con — to collide with
  • Spanish: hacer tropezar / trompezar — to cause to collide with
  • Bulgarian: срещам (sreštam) — to encounter or meet
  • Esperanto: renkonti — to encounter or meet
  • German: auf jemanden/etwas stoßen — to encounter or meet
  • German: jemandem über den Weg laufen — to encounter or meet
  • Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐍉𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gamōtjan) — to encounter or meet
  • Norwegian Bokmål: støte på — to encounter or meet
  • Norwegian Bokmål: treffe — to encounter or meet
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: støyte på — to encounter or meet
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: treffe — to encounter or meet
  • Portuguese: dar de cara — to encounter or meet
  • Portuguese: topar — to encounter or meet
  • Romanian: da de — to encounter or meet
  • Spanish: toparse con — to encounter or meet
  • Spanish: darse de bruces con — to encounter or meet
  • Spanish: tropezarse / trompezarse con — to encounter or meet
  • Spanish: dar de bruces con — to encounter or meet
  • Swedish: stöta på — to encounter or meet