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run up against

VERB
meet
Synonyms
STRONGEST
contact face find greet see
STRONG
accost collide confront cross encounter engage experience grapple hit light luck salute stumble tumble tussle
WEAK
brush against bump into chance on come across come up against dig up fall in with get-together make a meet meet face to face rendezvous with rub eyeballs run across run into touch shoulders
Antonyms
STRONG
avoid evade let go lose shun
WEAK
cancel dodge miss
VERB
taste
Synonyms
STRONGEST
appreciate feel savor
STRONG
encounter know perceive undergo
WEAK
be exposed to come up against have knowledge of meet with partake of

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Efforts to narrow that definition, the court found, run up against those statutory protections.

From Salon • Apr. 25, 2026

Management made the forecast as gains in running shoes, soccer gear and a rebound in North America run up against an array of other problems.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026

Those conditions run up against Washington’s efforts to push Tehran into speedy talks under the threat of military force.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

Reversing that trend would run up against global economic forces far larger than any single policy dispute.

From Barron's • Dec. 22, 2025

Frank and Joe had already run up against him once on a case, when they were trying to find the missing money from a video-game competition.

From "Hopping Mad (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #4)" by Franklin W. Dixon