run to earth

verb

To find someone or something after a long and difficult search.

“We’ve been trying to contact that witness for ten days, but we still haven’t run him to earth.”

Similar
run downrun to ground
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbrun to earth (third-person singular simple present runs to earth, present participle running to earth, simple past ran to earth, past participle run to earth)

present singular third person runs to earth · participle present running to earth · past ran to earth

  1. idiomatictransitiveTo find someone or something after a long and difficult search.

    We’ve been trying to contact that witness for ten days, but we still haven’t run him to earth.

    1 more example

    He went off to Rye, ran Ottershaw to earth in the Ship, and asked him what the devil he meant by it.

    1968, Georgette Heyer, The Unknown Ajax, page 155

    Synonyms: run down, run to ground

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo find someone or something after a long and difficult search.

Similar
run downrun to ground
Also see
run downrun to ground

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with run to earth

earthworthbirthPerthrebirthberthfirthgirthunearthmirthdearthBlue Earthedge of the earthinearth
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

run to earth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20to%20earth

MLA

“run to earth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20to%20earth. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “run to earth,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20to%20earth.

Source: run to earth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.