run-up

1 of 2

noun

ˈrən-ˌəp 

1

: the act of running up something

2

: a usually sudden increase in volume or price

3

: a period immediately preceding an action or event

run up

2 of 2

verb

ran up; run up; running up; runs up

intransitive verb

: to grow rapidly : shoot up

transitive verb

1

: bid up

2

: to stitch together quickly

3

: to erect hastily

4

: to achieve by accumulating

ran up a big lead

Examples of run-up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Ole Miss’s run-up to playing host to Mizzou features dust ups with LSU, Florida and Vanderbilt. — Pj Green august 16, Kansas City Star, 16 Aug. 2026

The report caused SpaceX shares to reverse a healthy run-up during regular trading hours Tuesday. — Rob Wile, NBC news, 4 Aug. 2026

Verb

The discovery process may very likely run up against White House invocation of executive privilege, but the network suggests that there is already proof out in the open. — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 21 Aug. 2026

That allowed Nixon to run up insurmountable leads in populous, urban counties, like Miami-Dade, Broward, Orange, Hillsborough and Duval. — Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 20 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1897, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Rhymes for run-up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup

Kids Definition

run up

verb

: to cause to pile up : accumulate

ran up a big telephone bill