ran upon

phrase

past tense of run upon
1
as in found
to come upon unexpectedly or by chance The boy ran upon a small house while exploring the woods.

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in encountered
to come upon face-to-face or as if face-to-face We ran upon our neighbor in the grocery store.

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ran upon
  1. ran into
  2. bumped into
Phrase
  • On his way to reaching his first tour-level final in eight years, Damir Džumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina ran into it during his quarterfinal against Italy’s French Open semifinalist Matteo Arnaldi.
    — James Hansen, New York Times, 20 July 2026
  • Argentina, the reigning world champions and heavy favorite, needed extra time to beat the upstarts in their first World Cup, but not before Cape Verde’s Sidny Lopes Cabral scored an incredible extra-time goal and ran into the crowd to celebrate.
    — Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 20 July 2026
Definition of ran into
Phrase
  • Two of the men told Garcia the agents’ vehicles bumped into them and then swayed into the van, forcing them to stop.
    — Elise Hammond, CNN Money, 24 July 2026
  • After attacking the pair, Lambert backed up and bumped into Counts, who had not been involved in the fight, the affidavit says.
    — Grant Lancaster, Arkansas Online, 23 July 2026
Definition of bumped into
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

rants (at)
ran upon
ran with
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ran upon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ran%20upon. Accessed 3 Aug. 2026.

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Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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