Word.ws English Dictionary

runs in

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

Meaning of run 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.
    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.

See all 8 meanings of run in

Questions about runs in

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

Words near runs in in the dictionary

  1. runs game on
  2. runs hands
  3. runs high
  4. runs hot
  5. runs hot and cold
  6. runs in
  7. runs in the family
  8. runs in with
  9. runs interference
  10. runs into
  11. runs into a brick wall

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: runs in (page history and authors); 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.

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Cite this entry: “runs in.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/runs_in. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.