run with scissors

Verb

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

1. (idiomatic) To behave recklessly.
   • Maybe instead of overprotecting, we should allow Katie, and the thousands other childhood cancer survivors like her, to play in traffic, run with scissors, and walk blindfolded with suckers sticking out of their mouths! Right?2005, Bob Wallace, Flying with Scissors: A Different Perspective on Childhood, page 48
   • It is dangerous, dumb, and highly delinquent (CRAZY) for a professional educator to goad our poor little misunderstood and hormonally-challenged children to run with scissors.2008, Andrew Gideon, Harrier Hawks Fly High, page 6
2. (idiomatic) To take a calculated risk.
   • Fly solo. Sure it’s safer to go with a partner, but every once in awhile^([sic]) you have to run with scissors.1998 June, Jim Gorman, “Get out!”, in Backpacker, page 67
   • I'm a firm believer that we should all “run with scissors” from time to time.2011, Ron Henchel, The Guilty Mirror, page 81
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see run, scissors.