phrasal verb · neutral
run up against
/rʌn ʌp əˈɡeɪnst/RUN·up·a·gainst
speakingtask2
to encounter problems or opposition
Examples
“The project ran up against strong local opposition.”
“We ran up against several legal issues while setting up the business.”
“She ran up against bureaucracy at every step.”
Band 8 sentence
“While implementing the policy, officials ran up against unexpected legal constraints that delayed progress.”
Collocations
- run up against opposition/problems/obstacles
Word family
run up against phrasal verb
Common mistakes
We ran against many problems.→We ran up against many problems.
They run up difficulties last year.→They ran up against difficulties last year.
Say it for a higher band
5face→6encounter→7+run up against
Synonyms
encounter
Easily confused
run into
“We ran into a few delays during construction.”
Related words
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In run …
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