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

The pressure is on for Oracle Corp. to deliver another quarter of accelerating revenue growth driven by spending on artificial intelligence after a run-up in its shares this year. —Bloomberg, Mercury News, 9 Sep. 2025

According to internal company data reviewed by Reuters, Amazon listed 5.4 million U.S. sign-ups over the 21-day run-up to Prime Day and the four-day event from July 8 to July 11. —Chad Murphy, The Enquirer, 4 Sep. 2025

Verb

At the edge of the heliosphere, the solar wind runs up against the interstellar medium, the gas, dust, and radiation in the space between the stars. —Kyle Orland, ArsTechnica, 24 Sep. 2025

With in-house motor electronics and a Linux-ROS operating environment, the robot runs up to six hours on battery power. —Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 22 Sep. 2025

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