ran

variants also chiefly dialectal run
Definition of rannext
past tense of run
1
2
3
as in led
to be positioned along a certain course or in a certain direction the road runs along the river for a while

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4
as in ranged
to occur within a continuous range of variation the electric bill runs between 30 and 50 dollars a month

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7
as in leaned
to show a liking or proneness (for something) unfortunately, members of his family run to fatness

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

8
as in drove
to urge, push, or force onward they ran the horses hard in order to get to the ranch quickly

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9
as in operated
to control the mechanical operation of I know how to run that machine

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10
as in became
to eventually have as a state or quality the poor woman ran herself ragged trying to care for all those children

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14
as in cost
to have a price of that sort of computer runs at least several hundred dollars

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15
16

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ran Investigators analyzed data from more than 1,700 participants in a long-running study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026 Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group runs both of the Whitney’s two dining outlets. Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Aug. 2026 Building Your Own Aaron Gibson runs an analytics platform called Hurree. Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026 Cummins is a former senior vice president at the government contractor Serco, which runs air traffic control towers at 60 American airports. Gabriela Aoun Angueira, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026 Track pants are the seasonless trend that has the relaxed, easy-to-wear feel of sweats but looks far more upscale and put together for traveling and running errands. Melony Forcier, PEOPLE, 7 Aug. 2026 Very early on, junk food became a running theme in the movie. William Earl, Variety, 7 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ran
Verb
  • Earlier this month, bulldozers were videoed uprooting trees and shoveling dirt as wild animals trotted by.
    Ashley Killough, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2026
  • This time, Maye tossed an interception downfield, and trotted off toward the sideline in defeat.
    Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 6 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • After July’s momentum wreck, bullish market sentiment retreated from extreme levels, setting the table for last week’s upturn.
    Michael Santoli, CNBC, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The off-duty trooper exchanged fire through the window with the gunman, who briefly retreated and returned again, firing and hitting another victim who was trying to help and render aid.
    Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 7 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Detroit quarterback Joshua Dobbs, signed as a free agent on Monday, led the Lions to field goals on two of his three series.
    CBS News, CBS News, 14 Aug. 2026
  • This news arrives two weeks after the club released their new away shirt, with the design process led by minority owner and former NFL superstar JJ Watt.
    Andy Jones, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Participants ranged from 45 to 64 at the start of the study, with an average age of 53.
    Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026
  • At a lower income level, which has ranged from $60,000 to $150,000, the offer covers tuition plus at least some additional cost of attendance charges, often adding up to a four-year free ride.
    Michael T. Nietzel, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • But the tone suggests Tehran may be taking a tougher stance, which could further delay a full return of transits through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil supply flowed before the war.
    Hanna Ziady, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The new report’s findings agreed with other analyses suggesting that capital investment has flowed into Opportunity Zones and that the investment has been unevenly distributed.
    Marie Sapirie, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • First responders then raced to get to the crash scene and used ropes to descend down the cliff, but there were no survivors.
    Spencer Wilson, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026
  • The two-time Olympic champion from Norway hadn’t raced since having surgery early this year to clean up scar tissue on the protective sheath around his left Achilles tendon.
    ABC News, ABC News, 10 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The other Zhang leaned into was incorporating the essence of Jean Grey and the character’s comic book ties to the Phoenix.
    Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 8 Aug. 2026
  • If a system leaned too heavily on on-page textual signals, people could just overstuff their content with word bloat to artificially boost ranking.
    Alan Bradley, ArsTechnica, 7 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The Lions drove to the Bengals 33 on the first series before Jordan Battle picked off Altmyer at the 25 after the pass went off the hands of wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa.
    CBS News, CBS News, 14 Aug. 2026
  • And high costs and risky conditions along the route had already complicated Putin’s vision – even before Russia’s war against Ukraine drove international players from its Arctic territory.
    Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Ran.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ran. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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