Meanings
present singular third person runs a red light · participle present running a red light · past ran a red light
- literallyautomotiveTo drive past an illuminated red traffic light instead of stopping as indicated.
1 more example
Corbett is convinced it was a systemic failure: "The Thames Train was driven by a rookie driver who had only just come into the job. It is, in fact, difficult to run through a red light, because you have to cancel the Automatic Warning System (AWS) and so on. But he continued for 700 yards and he accelerated, which no one understands why.
2026 March 4, Christian Wolmar, “Railtrack: what really happened”, in RAIL, number 1056, page 53Synonyms: run a stoplight. run a light
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo drive past an illuminated red traffic light instead of stopping as indicated.
Translations
Chinese Cantonese 衝紅燈 /冲红灯
- 衝紅燈 /冲红灯drive through traffic light
Chinese Mandarin 闖紅燈 /闯红灯
- 闖紅燈 /闯红灯 (chuǎng hóngdēng)drive through traffic light
Danish køre over for rødt
- køre over for rødtdrive through traffic light
Dutch door rood rijden
- door rood rijdendrive through traffic light
Esperanto preterveturi ruĝan trafiklumon
- preterveturi ruĝan trafiklumondrive through traffic light
Finnish ajaa päin punaisia
- ajaa päin punaisiadrive through traffic light
French brûler un feu rouge, griller un feu rouge
- brûler un feu rougedrive through traffic light
- griller un feu rougedrive through traffic light
German über Rot fahren, eine rote Ampel überfahren
- über Rot fahrendrive through traffic light
- eine rote Ampel überfahrendrive through traffic light
- über eine rote Ampel fahrendrive through traffic light
Italian passare con il rosso
- passare con il rossodrive through traffic light
Lithuanian važiuoti per raudoną
- važiuoti per raudonądrive through traffic light
Norwegian kjøre på rødt lys
- kjøre på rødt lysdrive through traffic light
Russian ехать на красный
- ехать на красный (jexatʹ na krasnyj)drive through traffic light
Spanish pasarse la luz roja, saltarse un semáforo en rojo
- pasarse la luz rojadrive through traffic light
- saltarse un semáforo en rojodrive through traffic light
Ukrainian їхати на червоний
- їхати на червоний (jixaty na červonyj)drive through traffic light
Urdu اِشارَہ توڑْنا
- اِشارَہ توڑْنا (iśāra toṛnā)drive through traffic light
Cite this entry
run a red light. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20a%20red%20light
“run a red light.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20a%20red%20light. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “run a red light,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20a%20red%20light.
Source: run a red light on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.