Word.ws English Dictionary

run up on

run up on verb: to approach with speed or forceful intensity.

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To approach with speed or forceful intensity
    • Hey, don't run up on me like that while my back's turned...I might accidentally deck you.
  2. (transitive, African-American Vernacular) To confront with hostility
  3. (transitive, African-American Vernacular) To hit on (somebody).

Forms of run up on

third-person singular presentruns up on
present participlerunning up on
pastran up on
past participlerun up on

Origin of run up on

From run up + on.

Questions about run up on

What does run up on mean?
Run up on means to approach with speed or forceful intensity.
What part of speech is run up on?
Run up on is a verb.
What is the past tense of run up on?
The past tense of run up on is ran up on.

Words near run up on in the dictionary

  1. run to waste
  2. run up
  3. run up against
  4. run up in
  5. run up in it
  6. run up on
  7. run up the score
  8. run upon sorts
  9. run ups
  10. run wild
  11. run with

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: run up on (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-run up on.wav.

Cite this entry: “run up on.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/run_up_on. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.