Word.ws English Dictionary

ran into the ground

ran into the ground is the simple past of run into the ground.

Meaning of run into the ground

Verb

run into the ground (third-person singular simple present runs into the ground, present participle running into the ground, simple past ran into the ground, past participle run into the ground)

  1. (idiomatic, informal, transitive) To mismanage to the point of ruin.
    • Although he has an MBA from Harvard, he still ran the company into the ground.
  2. (idiomatic, informal, transitive) To wear out, especially through excessive use.
    • I figure this car has a few more years left in it and I intend to run it into the ground before purchasing another.
  3. (idiomatic, informal, transitive) To discuss ad nauseam.
    • You’ve run the upcoming election into the ground and I simply won’t listen to another word about it.

Questions about ran into the ground

What is ran into the ground the simple past of?
Ran into the ground is the simple past of run into the ground.

Words near ran into the ground in the dictionary

  1. ran in with
  2. ran interference
  3. ran into
  4. ran into a brick wall
  5. ran into one
  6. ran into the ground
  7. ran it up
  8. ran late
  9. ran like a dry creek
  10. ran like a top
  11. ran lines

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ran into the ground (page history and authors); run into the ground (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: “ran into the ground.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ran_into_the_ground. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.