5 exercises — one verb, many meanings. Run into a bug. Run through a checklist. Run out of disk space. Run with an idea. Run by the team. Each combination means something completely different.
The "run" family — quick reference
run through → review step by step: "run through the deployment checklist"
run into → encounter unexpectedly (usually a problem): "run into a TLS error"
run out of → exhaust a resource: "run out of disk space / memory / retries"
run up against → hit a persistent blocker: "run up against architectural limits"
run with → proceed confidently with an idea: "let's run with this approach"
run by → get informal review/approval: "run the design by the security team"
run on → operate using a platform/runtime: "runs on Node.js 20"
run over → review briefly OR exceed time: "ran over by 10 minutes"
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1 / 5
A tech lead says at the start of a code review meeting: "Let's run through the PR together before we merge — it's a significant change to the auth layer." What does run through mean here?
Run through = go through something from start to finish, reviewing or covering each part in sequence. The idea is moving forward through the material without stopping to deeply discuss every point (unless needed).
"Let's run through the agenda quickly before we get into details." "Can you run through your approach? Just a high-level overview." "We ran through the ticket list and prioritised the top 5."
Run through vs. run over: • run through = review systematically, front to back: "run through the test cases" • run over = review briefly / exceed a time limit: "run over the main points" OR "the meeting ran over by 20 minutes"
The full "run" family in IT — an overview: • run through → review, go over • run into → encounter unexpectedly (usually a problem) • run out of → exhaust a supply/resource • run up against → encounter a blocker or limitation • run by → ask someone to review or approve • run on → operate using (technology/platform) • run over → review briefly OR exceed time • run with → proceed with, develop an idea
2 / 5
A developer posts in the incident channel: "We ran _____ a TLS certificate issue during the deployment — the service started rejecting all HTTPS connections. Investigating now."
Run into = encounter unexpectedly, especially a problem, error, or obstacle. The image is of physically running into something you didn't see coming — an obstruction appearing in your path.
"We ran into a dependency conflict after the upgrade." "I ran into an issue with the Docker build — let me check the logs." "Did you run into any problems during setup?"
Run into vs. come across: Both mean "encounter unexpectedly," but with different connotations: • run into = often used for problems, issues, errors — the thing is an obstacle • come across = often neutral or positive — finding something interesting: "I came across a great library for this"
Why the other options are wrong: • ran through = reviewed/went over — you don't "run through a problem" in this sense • ran out of = exhausted a resource: "ran out of memory", "ran out of retries" — needs a countable or measurable resource • ran with = decided to proceed with: "We ran with the first approach" — positive decision, not a problem
More "run into" examples: "We ran into rate limiting on the external API." "The team ran into a merge conflict on the main branch." "I ran into an old bug that we thought we'd fixed in v2."
3 / 5
An SRE writes in a post-mortem report: "At 03:47 UTC, the service began running out of available database connections. The connection pool was exhausted within 4 minutes, causing a full service outage." What does run out of mean?
Run out of = use up a supply entirely until none is left. The emphasis is on complete exhaustion — not "running low" but hitting zero.
"The server ran out of disk space." "We ran out of retries — the job failed after 5 attempts." "The free tier ran out of API calls at 10pm UTC." "We're running out of time before the feature freeze."
Run out of in incident and performance context: • run out of connections → connection pool exhausted (common with databases) • run out of memory / OOM → Out Of Memory error: process killed by the OS • run out of disk space → disk full, writes blocked • run out of file descriptors → OS-level limit: too many open files • run out of retries → retry policy exhausted, failing permanently
Note the structure: "run out of" is always followed by a noun (the resource that's exhausted): "run out of memory", "run out of time", "run out of options." You cannot say "run out" alone without specifying what.
4 / 5
A product manager says in a planning session: "We keep running up against the same problem — our monolith can't handle the write load at this scale. Before we run with the microservices proposal, I want to run it by the architecture team first." Match the three phrasal verbs.
Three advanced "run" phrasal verbs — all common in planning and technical discussions:
Run up against = encounter a persistent obstacle or hard limitation. Stronger and more repeated than "run into" — suggests bashing against the same wall repeatedly. "We keep running up against CORS issues." "They ran up against regulatory limits they hadn't anticipated." Used particularly for systematic blockers (architectural constraints, compliance walls, etc.)
Run with = decide to proceed and develop an idea, proposal, or approach. Informal equivalent of "move forward with" or "proceed with." "Let's run with Option B — it's simpler." "The team ran with the event-sourcing approach." Usually implies enthusiasm or confident commitment.
Run it by (someone) = ask someone informally to review, approve, or react to something before finalising. Softer than "submit for approval" — more like "get a second opinion." "Can you run this by the security team before we ship?" "I'll run the estimate by the PM before I commit." Note: always has a person as the indirect object — "run it by someone".
Summary of "run" phrasal verbs for planning conversations: • run through = review step by step • run with = proceed confidently • run by = get informal approval • run up against = hit a blocker repeatedly
5 / 5
Which sentence uses a "run" phrasal verb incorrectly in an IT context?
Option D is incorrect. "Ran into the new build" is the wrong usage. Run into means to encounter a problem or obstacle unexpectedly — the object should be an obstacle (a problem, error, issue), not the thing you're building or launching toward.
The intended meaning is probably "the CI pipeline completed the new build" or "the CI pipeline triggered the new build" — neither of which uses "run into."
Correct uses of run into: ✅ "The CI pipeline ran into a timeout error during the Docker build." ✅ "We ran into a breaking change after upgrading webpack." ✅ "The pipeline ran into a missing environment variable."
Why the other options are correct: • Option A: runs on = operates using (a platform/runtime): "runs on Node.js 20" ✅ Standard technical description of a runtime or execution environment. • Option B: run through = review systematically: "run through the deployment checklist" ✅ Standard pre-release practice. • Option C: ran out of = exhausted a resource: "ran out of rate limit budget" ✅ The "budget" is the finite resource being exhausted. A 429 Too Many Requests error is the typical signal.
Runs on — more examples: "This service runs on Python 3.11." · "The mobile app runs on iOS 16+" · "The build runs on GitHub Actions."