IdiomDaily Life
English
Englishrun circles around someone
Meaning: To outperform someone by a wide margin; to be better than someone.
Example: “In the kitchen, my sister runs circles around me.”
Origin: The image is of someone so much faster than a competitor that they could run circles around them while the other runs straight. American English from the late 19th century; the British say "run rings round."
More English idioms
- run something into the ground To belabor something beyond reason; to go too far with something.
- have a screw loose To be harmlessly crazy.
- second-guess To dispute or try to understand someone's reason for doing something.
- have second thoughts To begin to have doubts; to question and reexamine a decision.
- see red To get angry.
- see something through To finish something one has started.
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Words that look familiar in another language but mean something else entirely.
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