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🎤 To rehearse 💸 To use up quickly
to run through

to run through

16 4.4
Use up money or supplies quickly and wastefully
  • phrasal verb
  • /rʌn θru/
translation icon : gastar
  • I remember I used to keep thousands, I used to run through thousands of dollars a day.

It's not too creamy, so I'm not going to run through this pencil like crazy.

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Examples

  • I can't believe I ran through $6,000 so fast.

    Celebrity (1998)

  • Do you suppose we really could run through $50,000 in a year?

  • Sure ran through that last batch of supplies awful fast.

    Day of the Outlaw (1959)

  • Do you suppose we really could run through $50,000 in a year?

    The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)

  • I can't believe I ran through $6,000 so fast.

  • Sure ran through that last batch of supplies awful fast.

Synonyms

to use
vsto run through
∞ 1.0

To put something to work for a purpose

is about faster, sometimes careless consumption rather than neutral employment
to spend
vsto run through
∞ 1.0

To give money to buy something or pay for services

is similar but often implies faster, sometimes wasteful use
to waste
vsto run through
∞ 1.0

To use or spend something carelessly and without good reason

adds the idea of rapid depletion and occasional heavy spending
to eat
vsto run through
564 6.6

Gradually use up money or fuel

is quicker and sometimes implies careless or wasteful use
to burn
vsto run through
191 3.2

To use up money, energy, or other resources

focuses more on fast consumption and sometimes on waste
to wipe out
vsto run through
189 4.2

Destroy something so nothing is left

matches total loss but usually involves quicker, wasteful spending
to consume
vsto run through
172 3.2

To use up resources until none are left

is like this but highlights speed and occasional wastefulness
to use up
vsto run through
69 2.7

To finish all of something so nothing is left

overlaps in total use but often with faster, wasteful connotation
to exhaust
vsto run through
68 3.7

To use up all of a supply or resource

is like this but also implies faster or sometimes wasteful use
to squander
vsto run through
67 6.5

To use money, time, or chances in a foolish way

involves fast use but highlights speed rather than only recklessness
to expend
vsto run through
50 5.0

To use money, time, or energy for a purpose

adds the sense of quick consumption and possible waste
to eat up
vsto run through
  • Informal
23 3.1

Use up money or time quickly

is similar but stresses quick use that can be wasteful
to run into the ground
vsto run through
  • Informal
19 6.5

To damage something by using it too much or managing it badly

is similar but focuses more on rapid spending rather than long mismanagement
to run down
vsto run through
15 3.2

To use up batteries, money or supplies until little remains

is more about rapid spending and occasional waste compared with slow loss
to deplete
vsto run through
13 6.3

To use up almost all of something so little is left

adds a sense of quick or wasteful spending to that depletion
to fritter away
vsto run through
4 6.0

Waste time or money on small unimportant things

is quicker and can be wasteful in larger, faster ways
to throw money away
vsto run through
4 3.5

Spend money on things you do not need

is about fast use that may or may not be solely money
to dissipate
vsto run through
3 7.0

To use money or energy in a foolish, wasteful way

adds the idea of speed and rapid consumption to that waste
to drain resources
vsto run through
2 4.6

To use up the money or help someone needs

is often faster and can be wasteful rather than only gradual
to blow savings
vsto run through
  • Informal
1 6.9

To spend saved money quickly on things you do not need

is about rapid use that may be wasteful rather than merely careless
to misspend
vsto run through
1 6.5

To spend time or money in a wasteful way

emphasizes rapid depletion and occasional careless waste rather than just poor choice

Antonyms

to save
644 1.0

Use less of something to avoid waste

to preserve
496 3.4

To keep people and things safe from harm or change

How Quickly

to run through
16 4.4
to use up
69 2.7
to conserve
63 3.4

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

run + through

The sense 'to review or rehearse' can be derived from combining 'run' (to go through/perform) with 'through' (completely/from start to finish), so a learner who knows both words can infer the general idea of going over something. However, the specific pragmatic use as 'rehearse/check for mistakes' is a modest metaphorical extension of the literal components and may require exposure to fully fix the collocational meaning, so it is not fully transparent.

Etymology

Run through may come from the image of a fire or a machine that runs through material, taking it as it moves and leaving nothing left. So, it came to mean 'to use up' something quickly.