get the runaround

verb

To be given unclear, evasive, or unhelpful information, often when seeking answers, assistance or services.

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Meanings

verbget the runaround (third-person singular simple present gets the runaround, present participle getting the runaround, simple past got the runaround, past participle (UK) got the runaround or (US) gotten the runaround)

present singular third person gets the runaround · participle present getting the runaround · past got the runaround · UK participle past got the runaround · US participle past gotten the runaround

  1. idiomaticinformalTo be given unclear, evasive, or unhelpful information, often when seeking answers, assistance or services.

    I began to call the INS regularly to check up on the status of my application. I got the proverbial "run-around," and this effort only confirmed my suspicion that the INS was sitting on my application.

    1986, Gilberto Gerald, “With My Head Held Up High”, in Joseph Beam, editor, In The Life: A Black Gay Anthology
Cite this entry
APA

get the runaround. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20the%20runaround

MLA

“get the runaround.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20the%20runaround. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “get the runaround,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20the%20runaround.

Source: get the runaround on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.