run up

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

Wembanyama put on a clinic by running up the court, receiving Dylan Harper’s fast-break pass and finishing at the rim before drawing a foul on Karl-Anthony Towns. —Mark Medina, Forbes.com, 6 June 2026

Much like in football, the end of the season runs up against the start of the transfer portal. —Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 5 June 2026

Arora kept trying things, pressing one finer point of the law or another, running up against certain universal precepts that stood outside the jurisdiction of the superior court. —Thomas Lake, AJC.com, 4 June 2026

Cormann warned that government spending aimed at relieving energy costs needed to be aimed at those most in need and temporary, to avoid running up excess government debt and preserving incentives to save energy. —David McHugh, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

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