Word.ws English Dictionary

pick up the ball and run with it

pick up the ball and run with it is the alternative form of take the ball and run with it.

Meaning of take the ball and run with it

Verb

take the ball and run with it (third-person singular simple present takes the ball and runs with it, present participle taking the ball and running with it, simple past took the ball and ran with it, past participle taken the ball and run with it)

  1. To continue working on something that someone else started, especially when one does so efficiently and successfully.

Forms of pick up the ball and run with it

third-person singular presentpicks up the ball and runs with it
present participlepicking up the ball and running with it
pastpicked up the ball and ran with it
past participlepicked up the ball and run with it

Questions about pick up the ball and run with it

What is pick up the ball and run with it the alternative form of?
Pick up the ball and run with it is the alternative form of take the ball and run with it.

Words near pick up the ball and run with it in the dictionary

  1. pick up one's marbles and go home
  2. pick up speed
  3. pick up steam
  4. pick up stitches
  5. pick up stompies
  6. pick up the ball and run with it
  7. pick up the mantle
  8. pick up the pace
  9. pick up the phone
  10. pick up the pieces
  11. pick up the slack

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pick up the ball and run with it (page history and authors); take the ball and run with it (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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “pick up the ball and run with it.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pick_up_the_ball_and_run_with_it. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.