Word.ws English Dictionary

have the run of

have the run of verb: to have permission or freedom to move around throughout an area or to use something at will.

Verb

have the run of (third-person singular simple present has the run of, present participle having the run of, simple past and past participle had the run of)

  1. (set phrase) To have permission or freedom to move around throughout an area or to use something at will.
    • "[W]hilst I am looking over the documents you can ramble about the rooms where you like. I have the run of the house at any time, you know."1873, Thomas Hardy, chapter 5, in A Pair of Blue Eyes
    • He told of his power in the prison by virtue of his being trusty in the Warden's office, and because of the fact that he had the run of the dispensary.1915, Jack London, chapter 2, in The Jacket

Forms of have the run of

third-person singular presenthas the run of
present participlehaving the run of
past participlehad the run of
pasthad the run of

Questions about have the run of

What does have the run of mean?
Have the run of means to have permission or freedom to move around throughout an area or to use something at will.
What part of speech is have the run of?
Have the run of is a verb.
What is the past tense of have the run of?
The past tense of have the run of is had the run of.

Words near have the run of in the dictionary

  1. have the legs of someone
  2. have the painters in
  3. have the pas of someone
  4. have the pleasure
  5. have the right time
  6. have the run of
  7. have the sun in one's eyes
  8. have the tiger by the tail
  9. have the time
  10. have the wind up
  11. have the wolf by the ear

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: have the run of (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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