run across

To meet someone or find something when you were not looking for them.

• I ran across an old photo.
• You sometimes run across useful books in small shops.
• Have you ever run across her at work?

How to use it: run across someone/something (I ran across an old friend at the market.)

Similar words: come across, happen upon, encounter

Common phrases: run across someone, run across something

To move from one side of a place to the other by running.

• He ran across the road.
• The dog is running across the garden.
• Can you run across the bridge before the race ends?

How to use it: run across something (The children ran across the field.)

Similar words: dash across

Common phrases: run across something, run across a road