ran upon

phrase

past tense of run upon
1
as in found
to come upon unexpectedly or by chance The boy ran upon a small house while exploring the woods.

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in encountered
to come upon face-to-face or as if face-to-face We ran upon our neighbor in the grocery store.

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ran upon
  1. ran into
  2. bumped into
Phrase
  • Seeing The Love Junkies, ran into Eric Church and his wife, Katherine, on the dance floor, Kane Brown and his wife and I had a great chat.
    — Ashlyn Robinette, PEOPLE, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Dorgu ran into players, and Fernandes, throwing his arms around in exasperation at Tielemans’ failure to control the ball, looked a picture of frustration.
    — Stuart James, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of ran into
Phrase
  • Rios bumped into the second man before pulling out a gun and firing a shot in his direction, deputies said.
    — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Instead of swinging all the way out, the door bumped into somebody.
    — Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of bumped into
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

rants (at)
ran upon
ran with
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ran upon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ran%20upon. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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