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Glite Dictionary
to run across

to run across

39 2.7
Find something by chance while doing something else
  • phrasal verb
  • /rʌn əˈkrɔs/
: encontrar por casualidad
  • While hiking in the woods, I unexpectedly ran across an old cabin that I had never seen before.

And I was on the air one night and ran across the word Barbados.

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Examples

Synonyms

to find
vsto run across
∞ 1.0

To discover something while looking or by accident

is usually discovered while doing another activity rather than by pure chance
to discover
vsto run across
∞ 1.0

To find out about something for the first time, often by chance

is usually discovered while doing another activity rather than by pure chance
to run into
vsto run across
556 2.7

Meet someone by chance without planning

is often about finding objects as well as meeting people during other activities
to encounter
vsto run across
406 3.2

To meet someone or find a problem unexpectedly

is usually discovered while doing another activity rather than by pure chance
to come across
vsto run across
289 2.6

To find something or someone by chance

is usually discovered while doing another activity rather than by pure chance
to bump into
vsto run across
112 2.2

To meet someone by chance in a public place

is often about finding objects as well as meeting people during other activities
to turn up
vsto run across
76 3.0

To find something while searching or by chance

is usually discovered while doing another activity rather than by pure chance
to come upon
vsto run across
59 2.2

To find something or someone by chance

is usually discovered while doing another activity rather than by pure chance
to cross paths
vsto run across
  • Informal
48 3.7

Meet someone by chance

is often used for finding things as well as meeting people during other activities
to chance on
vsto run across
25 6.1

To find something or someone by accident while doing something else

is usually discovered while doing another activity rather than by pure chance
to happen upon
vsto run across
18 4.9

Find a person or thing by chance

is usually discovered while doing another activity rather than by pure chance
to hit upon
vsto run across
8 4.9

To find or think of something by chance

is usually discovered while doing another activity rather than by pure chance
to fall upon
vsto run across
4 3.6

To find something by chance

is usually discovered while doing another activity rather than by pure chance
to chance upon
vsto run across
4 5.1

Find someone or something by accident

is usually discovered while doing another activity rather than by pure chance
to cross one's path
vsto run across
1 4.2

To meet someone unexpectedly, often by chance

is often used for finding things as well as meeting people during other activities

How Unexpected

to run across
39 2.7
to find
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

run + across

The sense 'to find or discover by chance' is partially derivable from combining 'run' (move quickly) with 'across' (from one side to the other): physically 'running across' someone plausibly maps onto encountering them, so a learner can often infer the meaning. However, this is a metaphorical extension typical of English phrasal verbs and not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so it remains only partially transparent for a B1 learner.

Etymology

Run across comes from a simple picture: you are moving, run, and you go across a place, across, and suddenly meet or see something you did not expect. So it means 'to find or discover someone or something by chance'.