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Glite Dictionary
to run around with

to run around with

20 6.5
To spend time casually with people who may cause trouble
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : andar con
  • He finds plenty of time to run around with his obnoxious man-child friends in Manhattan while not actually working a real job.
  • running around with a guy
  • running around with kids
  • running around with a woman

No, it's it's outdoors, running around with friends, hanging out.

Examples

  • No, it's it's outdoors, running around with friends, hanging out.

    What Now? with Trevor Noah

  • He runs around with my son, Louis, though Louis will sometimes abandon him for another child.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • So we're going to go there, run around with the boys, wear them out.

  • "You better think about who you are running around with in New York.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Hate to see you give it up just to go running around with some crazy Texan.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • "He'd even spent a whole afternoon running around with her.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • I ran around with the girls blowing bubbles for a while to burn some calories.

  • Do you know he's running around with a twenty-two-year-old woman?

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Don't tell me you ditched me to run around with this little dope.

    Pride (2007)

  • I don't like the idea of you running around with people who have a bad reputation.

Synonyms

to get around
vsto run around with
  • Informal
38 5.6

Spend time meeting many different people

spends time casually often with people of doubtful reputation
to hobnob with
vsto run around with
8 8.0

To spend time talking with important or powerful people

spends time casually often with people of doubtful reputation

Antonyms

to avoid
∞ 1.0

To stay away from something or not do it to stop something bad from happening

How Close

to consort with
  • Formal
12 7.9
to run around with
  • Informal
20 6.5
to hang out
  • Informal
946 2.4
to cross paths
  • Informal
32 3.7

Surface Forms

run around with infinitive
ran around with past
running around with present participle
runs around with third person singular
run around with past participle

Morphology

run + around + with

The literal constituents 'run' + 'around' imply moving about and 'with' marks accompaniment, so a learner who knows the words could plausibly infer a basic sense of 'spend time or go about together with someone.' However, the colloquial nuance of casually associating—often with disreputable people—is an extended, idiomatic use not fully predictable from the parts, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

The expression run around with comes from the image of someone literally running around town with a group, moving from place to place. Because that shows casual, sometimes risky company, it now means 'to spend time or associate with' people, often with a bad reputation.