If you run to someone, you go to them for help or to tell them something.
What would I do? Whom would I run to? Momma was still away. [VERBPARTICLE noun]
If you were at a party and somebody was getting high, you didn't go running to acop. [VERBPARTICLE noun]
2. phrasal verb
If something runs to a particular amount or size, it is that amount or size.
The finished manuscript ran to the best part of fifty double-sided pages. [VERBPARTICLE noun]
3. phrasal verb
If you cannot run to a particular item, you cannot afford to buy it or pay for it.
[mainly British]
Radio, unlike movies, did not run to chauffeurs and limousines. [VERBPARTICLE noun]
4. phrasal verb
If your tastes or interests run to a particular type of thing, that is the type of thing you like.
My own tastes run to a comfortable apartment, somewhere high in a modern building. [VERBPARTICLE noun (not pronoun)]
See full dictionary entry for run
run to in British English
verb
(intr, preposition)
to be sufficient for
my income doesn't run to luxuries
Examples of 'run to' in a sentence
run to
Being responsible for the care of an older or ill person is not normally something that runs to a set schedule.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
They ran to help complete a new rehab centre for injured troops being Challenge.
The Sun (2017)
Frantic locals ran to help but he died before paramedics arrived.
The Sun (2013)
Copper ran to its highest in nearly two months.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
You also need to run to spot a mismatch.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
We need to go on a run to climb the league.
The Sun (2008)
Perhaps now she can run to a tin of tomatoes and some meatballs too.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Family members said she appeared to have been running to help her husband.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The plant is in the running to also build the entire car.
The Sun (2010)
If that happened now players would probably cry or go running to the chairman or their agent.
The Sun (2013)
Her mother also ran to the scene after hearing her screams.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Final scenes show his pal and a cop running to try to help him as he dies on the ground.
The Sun (2014)
Everybody was running to help push.
The Sun (2015)
His facility in this department also ran to hilarious rhyming speeches to be performed at birthday parties and other celebrations for friends.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The Chancellor has been running to stand still as headwinds from globalisation blast the poorest.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Long Run is probably still running to the same rating as last year.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
We could well see a decent run to the year-end now.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
You don't go running to them.
The Sun (2016)
She is now running to become American president.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Just don't go running to it for a cuddle.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
I saw people running to crowd around the place whence the shouting had come.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It's another example of a public service run to suit the staff rather than serving the public who are footing the bill.
The Sun (2010)
And then again, she wants to back away quietly and run to where her friends are waiting in a car by the kerb.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Pakistan added only 35 runs to their overnight total and were bowled out for 247 before lunch.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
I managed to get away and ran to my mother's and that was it, we were over.
The Sun (2015)
All related terms of 'run to'
run to earth
to hunt (an animal, esp a fox ) to its earth and trap it there
to run amok
If a person or animal runs amok , they behave in a violent and uncontrolled way.
to run riot
If people run riot , they behave in a wild and uncontrolled manner.
to run wild
If something or someone, especially a child, runs wild , they behave in a natural, free, or uncontrolled way.
run into
If you run into problems or difficulties , you unexpectedly begin to experience them.
run counter to
to have a contrary effect or action to
to cut and run
If someone cuts and runs in a difficult situation, they try to escape from it quickly and gain an advantage for themselves, rather than deal with the situation in a responsible way.
to run an errand
If you run an errand for someone, you do or get something for them, usually by making a short trip somewhere .
to run a risk
If you run the risk of doing or experiencing something undesirable , you do something knowing that the undesirable thing might happen as a result .
to run someone to earth
If you run someone or something to earth, you find them after searching for them for a long time.
go deep to run deep
If you say that something goes deep or runs deep , you mean that it is very serious or strong and is hard to change.
run someone to earth
to find someone after a long search
run someone to ground
to find someone after a long search
to run out of steam
If you run out of steam , you stop doing something because you have no more energy or enthusiasm left .
to run the gauntlet
If you run the gauntlet , you go through an unpleasant experience in which a lot of people criticize or attack you.
go to seed
If vegetable plants go to seed or run to seed , they produce flowers and seeds as well as leaves.
to go deep to run deep
If you say that something goes deep or runs deep , you mean that it is very serious or strong and is hard to change.
to go to seed/run to seed
If you say that someone or something has gone to seed or has run to seed , you mean that they have become much less attractive , healthy , or efficient .
to run foul of to fall foul of
If you run foul of someone or fall foul of them, you do something which gets you into trouble with them.
to run the gamut of something
To run the gamut of something means to include, express, or experience all the different things of that kind , or a wide variety of them.
run short/run low to be running low
If you are running short of something or running low on something, you do not have much of it left . If a supply of something is running short or running low , there is not much of it left.
to run counter to something be counter to
If one thing runs counter to another, or if one thing is counter to another, the first thing is the opposite of the second thing or conflicts with it.
not be able to run a chook raffle
to be totally incompetent
to run its course take its course
If something runs its course or takes its course , it develops naturally and comes to a natural end.
to give someone a run for their money
If you say that someone could give someone else a run for their money , you mean you think they are almost as good as the other person.
to run rings around someone run rings round/around
If you say that someone runs rings round you or runs rings around you, you mean that they are a lot better or a lot more successful than you at a particular activity.
to make your blood run cold make one's blood freeze
If you say that something makes your blood run cold or makes your blood freeze , you mean that it makes you feel very frightened .