run before

Verb

run before (third-person singular simple present runs before, present participle running before, simple past ran before, past participle run before)

1. (archaic, transitive) To flee from (something); to run away from (something).
   • In such wise did Helgi
     Deal fear around To all his foes
     And all their friends
     As when the goat runneth
     Before the wolf's rage
     Filled with mad fear
     Down from the fell1888, Ernest Rhys, editor, Songs from the Edda, page 166
   • Thou runnest before me, shifting every place,
     and darest not stand, nor look me in the face1600, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, page 73
2. (archaic) To precede (something); to anticipate (something).
   • Thy tongue runneth before thy wit.1858, John Heywood, edited by John S. Farmer, The Proverbs of John Heywood, London, page 205
   • although calumnie often starteth first and runneth before, yet veritie follow followeth her at the heels1638, A. Jhonston, Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh, page 34
3. (archaic, intransitive) To excel or be better than someone.
   • Thou runnest before rightly1609, Boethius, Boethius: The Theological Tractates, page 309