run to earth

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)θ

Verb

run 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)

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To find someone or something after a long and difficult search.

   Synonym: run to ground

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

   • 1968, Georgette Heyer, The Unknown Ajax (page 155)

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