1. verb To hoist or raise something, especially a flag. A noun or pronoun can be used between "run" and "up." Make sure the flag does not touch the ground as you run it up in the mornings.

2. verb To accumulate a large bill or debt that one is obliged to pay. We ran up a huge bill staying in that luxury resort in Las Vegas, but Jake insisted on paying for it. Apparently, he ran up a lot of credit card debts that he couldn't pay off, so he slipped across the border to Canada.

3. verb To cause the value of something to increase. A noun or pronoun can be used between "run" and "up." News of the company doubling production of their very popular tablet device has run their shares up to record highs.

4. verb To run and stop in front of someone or something. I just saw the neighbor kid run up and ring our doorbell. She ran up to me and gave me a huge hug.

5. verb In sports, to continue adding to one's score despite an assured victory due to a large lead, a practice considered poor sportsmanship. They're already ahead by 30, and now they're just running up the score.

6. noun An increase, perhaps a rapid or sudden one. Experts are attributing the run-up in price to a sudden surge in demand.

7. noun The period of time before an event or occurrence. There was no shortage of predictions in the run-up to the election.