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Glite Dictionary
end run around

end run around

1 7.7
An indirect way to avoid a rule or problem
  • noun
  • /ɛnd rʌn əˈraʊnd/
  • US
translation icon : esquivar
  • Therefore, we have had to invent this end run around the political realities.
  • make an end run around

And So what government does is it creates this end run around the market.

Examples

  • Unfortunately, even after the EPA acts, you can be sure that some will feel tempted to try to get Congress to do an end-run around the EPA's process.

    Blog text (13)

  • And So what government does is it creates this end run around the market.

    Dad Saves America

  • And So what government does is it creates this end run around the market.

    Dad Saves America

  • Therefore, we have had to invent this end run around the political realities.

  • Millions of us must come together to insist that President Obama and the Democrats stand up and fight, and if the House doesn't want to play ball, do a massive end run around them.

    Blog text (13)

  • Ackerman and Katyal paint a picture of the Federalists as "dangerous revolutionaries" who "lacked the legal authority... to make such an end run" around the existing legal requirements.

    Academic text (2016)

  • While Article XIII had confided exclusive authority in Congress to propose amendments, Annapolis was making an end run around the existing institution by calling for a second body, the convention, unknown to the Confederacy's higher lawmaking system.

    Academic text (2016)

  • In this video, Heritage's Director of Senate Relations, Brian Darling, explains that reconciliation—otherwise known as "the nuclear option"—is a procedural end-run around the will of the American people.

    Blog text (13)

  • The company used an end run around the regulations to save time on the project.

  • In negotiations, they often try to find an end run around the established rules to get their way.

Synonyms

dodging
vsend run around
2 5.0

A quick movement to avoid someone or something, for example a ball

is an indirect evasive action rather than a direct deliberate avoidance
circumvention
vsend run around
1 8.2

An action that avoids a rule or law by finding a clever way around it

is an indirect evasive action rather than confronting rules or obstacles

Antonyms

confrontation
294 4.5

A situation when people or groups meet in direct conflict, often angrily

direct action
  • Jargon
10 5.5

A protest where people act directly, for example by blocking a road or factory, to reach their goals

How Indirect

end run around
  • US
1 7.7
subterfuge
19 9.5
to bypass
119 4.7
to approach
159 2.6

Surface Forms

end run around singular
end run arounds plural

Morphology

end + run + around

The notion of bypassing is partially inferable because 'run' + 'around' suggests moving around or circumventing, and 'end run' (from a football play) implies going around an obstacle. However, the lexicalized noun meaning and its cultural/sports metaphor are not fully predictable from the parts, so a B1 learner who only knows the individual words may not reliably infer the intended evasive sense without prior exposure.

Etymology

The phrase end run around comes from football. In the game an end run is when a player runs around the end of the line to get past the other team, so to make an end run around a rule or person means to 'avoid' them or go around the problem.