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Glite Dictionary
to run aground

to run aground

14 6.7
To get a boat or ship stuck in shallow water near the shore
  • phrasal verb
  • /rʌn əˈɡraʊnd/
: encallar
  • There were civilian sea captains killed far from home when their ships ran aground on the reef.
  • ship ran aground
  • boat is run aground

Examples

  • I wouldn't want my ship to run aground either.

    Follow the Fleet (1936)

  • His ship had run aground on an island way west of Sumatra.

    King Kong (2005)

  • We're going to run aground, captain.

    2012 (2009)

  • The ship will run aground.

    Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

  • I ran aground here a few years ago and decided to make it home.

    Flipper (1996)

  • You know, Captain Cook ran aground in these waters.

    In Like Flynn (2018)

  • And in the case of a ship that has run aground, repairs must be made first.

    Blog text (31)

  • The ship can't go any further... as the shallow depths would... cause it to run aground.

    Big Miracle (2012)

  • Their four-month voyage ended when the ship ran aground in the night off Rockaway Peninsula in June.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Last night, a Chinese freighter ran aground off the Jeb Island Sound.

Synonyms

to strand
vsto run aground
19 6.7

To leave a person or vehicle stuck somewhere without help

is specific to boats becoming stuck in shallow water or on shore
to beach
vsto run aground
18 5.4

To end up on land at the shore, often a ship or whale

covers getting stuck in shallow water as well as on the shore
to ground
vsto run aground
13 3.4

To put something into the soil so it stays stable

describes accidental immobilization of a boat in shallow water or on shore

Antonyms

to float
559 1.0

To stay or move on water without sinking, sometimes in the air

to sail
39 1.0

To move smoothly and easily through the air or over a surface

How Stuck

immobile
14 4.4
stranded
147 4.0
to run aground
14 6.7

Surface Forms

run aground infinitive
running aground present participle
runs aground third person singular
ran aground past
run aground past participle

Morphology

run + aground

The meaning is directly built from the motion verb 'run' plus 'aground' (resting on the bottom): a vessel 'runs aground' by moving into the state of being aground, so the overall sense of becoming stuck on shore is compositional. This follows a common motion-into-result pattern found in many languages and does not involve a highly metaphorical or unpredictable shift, so learners who know both constituents should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

Run aground comes from boats: when a boat runs onto the shore or into very shallow water and becomes aground, it hits the bottom and cannot move. That's why it means 'to be stuck'.