run a mile
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to avoid something or someone completely
Literally: run a distance of one mile
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Well, I'd still like to get married, but if someone actually proposed to me I'd probably run a mile from that as well.
Fabia felt it might be a touch cruel to laugh at him again but, feeling certain he would run a mile if she took him seriously, she was a little nonplussed about how to answer him.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “run a mile” mean?
to avoid something or someone completely Literally: run a distance of one mile
Is “run a mile” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.