giving someone the runaround
giving someone the runaround is the present participle and gerund of give someone the runaround.
Meaning of give someone the runaround
Verb
give someone the runaround (third-person singular simple present gives someone the runaround, present participle giving someone the runaround, simple past gave someone the runaround, past participle given someone the runaround)
- To delay, dodge, or frustrate (someone), especially by providing useless information or directions.
- Deitch decided seven years ago that she wanted to film a lesbian love story. When major producers gave her the run-around, she formed her own production company, hustled for backers and gathered the right crew of technicians and actors to make it happen.1986 April 19, Loie Hayes, Donna Deitch, “Leapin' Lesbians!”, in Gay Community News, page 8
Questions about giving someone the runaround
- What is giving someone the runaround the present participle and gerund of?
- Giving someone the runaround is the present participle and gerund of give someone the runaround.
Words near giving someone the runaround in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: giving someone the runaround (page history and authors); give someone the runaround (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “giving someone the runaround.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/giving_someone_the_runaround. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.