run for one's money

noun

A difficult challenge for the person indicated, especially one involving a competitive situation.

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Meanings

nouna run for one's money
  1. idiomaticA difficult challenge for the person indicated, especially one involving a competitive situation.

    After beating Bush in New Hampshire, McCain gave him a two month run for his money. Bush had to prove he wasn't just a famous name.

    2003 April 3, Mitch Frank, “Why Primaries Matter”, in Time
    3 more examples

    Since the beginning of the world all men have hunted me like a wolf—kings and sages, and poets and lawgivers, all the churches, and all the philosophies. But I have never been caught yet, and the skies will fall in the time I turn to bay. I have given them a good run for their money, and I will now.

    1908, G[ilbert] K[eith] Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare, Bristol: J[ames] W[illiams] Arrowsmith, […]; London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Company, →OCLC

    "If your competitor regards you as a menace to his pocketbook, he can give you a nice little run for your money and delay you indefinitely."

    1918, Peter B. Kyne, chapter 24, in The Valley of the Giants

    Zoe followed him out, and saw he was halfway down the street, running so fast he would give the Olympic-gold-winning sprinters a run for their money.

    2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN
  2. datedidiomaticA reasonable opportunity to succeed, perform acceptably, or escape harm, especially in a difficult situation.

    "I say he'll get a run for his money. If there's any killing to be done, it will be in fair fight."

    1917, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 11, in The Sheriff's Son
    1 more example

    He appealed and, by some arrangement or other, got leave to state his case personally to the Court of Revision. Said, I believe, that he did not much trust lawyers, but that if the sahibs would give him a hearing, as man to man, he might have a run for his money.

    1913, Rudyard Kipling, chapter 18, in Letters of Travel

Origin

The idiom likely originates with horse racing, where one can get enjoyment "from watching the race even if one does not win much." Its usage was first recorded in 1874.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

German jemandem ordentlich Paroli bieten
  • jemandem ordentlich Paroli bietena difficult challenge for the person indicated
Polish wyzwanie
  • wyzwaniea difficult challenge for the person indicated
Cite this entry
APA

run for one's money. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20for%20one's%20money

MLA

“run for one's money.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20for%20one's%20money. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “run for one's money,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20for%20one's%20money.

Source: run for one's money on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.