to run past
21
1.3
- phrasal verb
- /rʌn pæst/
- As I was walking in the park, I saw him run past me without noticing.
- ran past their house
- ran past the window
- ran past the cars
Loading YouTube…
Watch on YouTubeWhat I remember is running past Anthony Huber.
- What I remember is running past Anthony Huber.
- Somebody made the cleaner faint when they ran past them from the women's block.
- And then he was like, I run past this place all the time in Brooklyn, which is the heat nest.
- Rashford let him let him players like skip past them, run past them and you see him stopping halfway through like he's just, he's giving up.
- I thought I'd be able to keep just running past the frozen foods, past the big huge thing of the beach balls, you know, maybe get to England, who knows?
- Creatures are running past them at full speed in an effort to destroy other creatures and deal damage to your enemy.
- I kept running past her and the third time I ran past her, she waved me down and she said to me, I bet it's amazing to live in your body.
- And someone runs past and then.
- And then we get to glimpse them as they run past on the way to doing a thing.
- Did you feel a little bit reminisce of that Kinder a little bit as you run past it?
Examples
-
The lights dipped and swayed as the kids ran past, growing smaller in the distance.
Fiction book (1998) -
I heard Kate run past the door and down the main stairs toward the front gate.
Fiction book (1998) -
I think I have seen you run past me before.
-
Did you see anyone run past?
-
I was running past your house, and I saw you in your bedroom window.
-
- Was that Mary Ellen that just ran past?
-
They ran past us, straight.
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So I ran past them as quick as I could, hoping they wouldn't recognize me.
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He came running past me and knocked me cold.
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Alex appears unaware as he simply runs past Billy, who curiously turns his head.
Fiction book (2000)
Synonyms
104
1.2
Go past someone or something without stopping
60
1.0
Move by someone or something without stopping
58
3.3
To catch up with and pass someone moving ahead of you
18
3.8
To go past quickly without anyone noticing, as with time or chances
17
1.0
To pass close to a person or place while moving quickly on foot
5
4.2
Time passes smoothly without you noticing
4
5.2
To move past a person or thing very close without stopping
1
3.9
Time that passes quickly without you noticing
1
5.1
Move past someone or something very quickly and smoothly
Antonyms
How Quickly
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal meaning 'to move quickly past someone or something' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'run' (move quickly on foot) with 'past' (motion by), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would understand that sense. However, the extended sense 'allow an opportunity to pass without taking action' is a metaphorical extension that is not fully predictable from the parts and may require prior exposure, so the item is best classified as partially transparent.
Etymology
The expression run past comes from a simple picture: someone does run and goes past another person or thing. By the same picture, time or a chance can 'run past' you when it goes by and you do nothing, so it now means both 'move quickly by' and 'let a chance go by'.