Word.ws English Dictionary

run circles around

run circles around verb: to outperform by a great margin.

Verb

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

  1. (figuratively) To outperform by a great margin.
    • You may think you're a good seller Carla, but Rickey will run circles around you any day!

Synonyms of run circles around

Forms of run circles around

third-person singular presentruns circles around
present participlerunning circles around
pastran circles around
past participlerun circles around
alternative formrun circles round

Origin of run circles around

Figurative, by the metaphor of lapping footrace competitors.

Questions about run circles around

What does run circles around mean?
Run circles around means to outperform by a great margin.
What part of speech is run circles around?
Run circles around is a verb.
What is the past tense of run circles around?
The past tense of run circles around is ran circles around.

Words near run circles around in the dictionary

  1. run book
  2. run books
  3. run by
  4. run chase
  5. run chases
  6. run circles around
  7. run circles round
  8. run counter
  9. run deep
  10. run down
  11. run down the clock

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: run circles around (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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