Word.ws English Dictionary

run in

run in adjective: (not comparable) Having been run in before or behind previous text. Also the alternative spelling of run-in.

Adjective

run in (not generally comparable, comparative more run in, superlative most run in)

  1. (adjective, error-misspelling, not comparable, participle, usually) (not comparable) Having been run in before or behind previous text.
    • These headings are run in because a free-hanging style would just be a waste of column inches.
    • One of the best headings for saving space is the heading that is run in.1956, Daniel Melcher, Nancy Larrick, Printing and Promotion Handbook
    Antonyms:
    free-hanging
  2. (adjective, error-misspelling, not comparable, participle, usually) (sometimes comparable) Having been run in to seat the parts.
    • The engine should be well run in before its heavy working life begins.
    • Behaviour patterns now thoroughly "run in", and financial stringencies, appear to impose sharp limits on the prospects of success here.1978, European Conference of Ministers of Transport, International Symposium on Theory and Practice in Transport Economics The Contribution of Economic Research to Transport Policy Decisions, page 64
    Synonyms:
    broken in

Verb

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

  1. (informal, transitive, chiefly passive voice) To arrest; (especially) to track down and arrest.
    • The guys who robbed the bank last week have finally been run in.
  2. (UK, transitive) To use new machinery at less than full speed, preventing damage.
    • I have to drive slowly for the first 1,000 miles to run the engine in.
    • It was run in by Ranochan of Polmadie on the forenoon slow to Carlisle and the afternoon slow back to the North.1959 February, A. G. Dunbar, “The "Dunalastair I" 4-4-0s of the Caledonian”, in Trains Illustrated, page 87
    Synonyms:
    break in
  3. (figuratively) To start a new regime slowly.
    Synonyms:
    phase in
  4. To score (a try).
    • Toeava went over unopposed to stretch his side's lead but Japan got on the scoreboard on 56 minutes, wing Hirotoki Onozawa intercepting an attempted offload from Slade, who had a rather flaky game, and running in from the All Blacks' 10m line.2011 September 16, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: New Zealand 83-7 Japan”, in BBC Sport
  5. To insert (a word, etc.) without making a line break or new paragraph (so that it is not free-hanging).
    • With these subsections, it is better to run their headings in.
  6. To alter the position of matter to fill vacant space.

Also used as

run in is also the alternative spelling of run-in.

run in is also the simple past and past participle of run in.

Examples of run in in a sentence

  • Third subheadings begin paragraphs (are indented and run in).1976, American Institute of Physics, Editorial Handbook, page 17:
  • Heading levels 3 through 7 are run in headings — the text that follows the heading appears on the same line as the heading.1987, Rachel Morgan, Henry McGilton, Introducing UNIX System V, page 333:
  • Tertiary headings are run in at the beginning of a paragraph, in bold type, capitalized sentence style, and followed by a period.2019, Editorial staff, “Guide to Authors”, in Nagoya Journal of Medical Science, archived from the original on 23 Dec 2021:
  • In addition to the above, the systems analyst should go on shift with the users for the first few days or longer until the system is thoroughly run in.1978, John E. Bingham, Garth W.P. Davies, A Handbook of Systems Analysis, page 35:

Synonyms of run in

Antonyms

Forms of run in

Adjective
comparativemore run in
superlativemost run in
Noun
pluralrun ins
Verb
third-person singular presentruns in
present participlerunning in
pastran in
past participlerun in

Questions about run in

What does run in mean?
Run in means (not comparable) Having been run in before or behind previous text.
How do you use run in in a sentence?
Third subheadings begin paragraphs (are indented and run in).
What part of speech is run in?
Run in can be an adjective or a verb.

Words near run in in the dictionary

  1. run games
  2. run hands
  3. run high
  4. run hot
  5. run hot and cold
  6. run in
  7. run in circles
  8. run in the family
  9. run in with
  10. run ins
  11. run interference

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: run in (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: “run in.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/run_in. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.