run into
Britishverb
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(also tr) to collide with or cause to collide with
her car ran into a tree
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to encounter unexpectedly
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(also tr) to be beset by or cause to be beset by
the project ran into financial difficulties
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to extend to; be of the order of
debts running into thousands
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Meet or find by chance, as in I ran into an old friend at the concert . [c. 1900]
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See run against , def. 1.
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Collide with, as in The car ran straight into the retaining wall . [c. 1800]
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Incur, as in We've run into extra expenses with the renovation , or James said they've run into debt . [c. 1400]
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Mount up, increase to, as in Her book may well run into a second volume .
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Follow without interruption, as in What with one day running into the next, we never knew just what day it was! or He spoke so fast his words ran into one another . [Late 1600s] Also see run into a stone wall ; run into the ground .
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.
Google was an early investor in AI, and in the mid-2010s it began to run into the same problem many others saw in recent years.
From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026
Significant fines, including from 2% of a university's income, could mean penalties run into millions for some.
From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026
Spring planting season has begun for much of the U.S. and can run into the month of May.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 17, 2026
Fey revealed the lounge has fallen apart after literally being run into the ground by too many Five-Timers Club sketches.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 5, 2026
And when we get to the park, I run into the water anyway.
From "Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero" by Kelly J. Baptist
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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.