Word.ws English Dictionary

runs before

runs before is the third-person singular simple present indicative of run before.

Meaning of 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
  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
  3. (archaic, intransitive) To excel or be better than someone.
    • Thou runnest before rightly1609, Boethius, Boethius: The Theological Tractates, page 309

Questions about runs before

What is runs before the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Runs before is the third-person singular simple present indicative of run before.

Words near runs before in the dictionary

  1. runs away together
  2. runs away with
  3. runs back
  4. runs barefoot through
  5. runs batted in
  6. runs before
  7. runs behind
  8. runs by
  9. runs circles around
  10. runs counter
  11. runs deep

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: runs before (page history and authors); run before (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: “runs before.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/runs_before. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.