From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrun into somebody/something phrasal verb1 PROBLEMto start to experience a difficult or unpleasant situation He ran into criticism after remarks he made in a television interview.run into trouble/problems/difficulties The business ran into financial difficulties almost immediately.2 run into hundreds/thousands etcREACH to reach an amount of several hundred, several thousand etc The cost of repairing the damage could run into millions. The list ran into hundreds of pages.3 TTHIT/BUMP INTOto hit someone or something with a vehicle SYN crash into He ran into the back of another car.4 informalMEET to meet someone by chance Guess who I ran into in town today! → run yourself into the ground at ground1(13) → run→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
run into • He ran into a fast-food joint and swiped some little handy wipes that made them smell all lemony.• But delegates ran into difficulties in informal haggling over how to share the cuts.• To get out of Palma would lessen her chances of running into Fernando.• Former one-store towns now run into one another, linked by new buildings and storefronts that cut a swath across sugar-cane fields.• The lost revenue runs into several millions of pounds and several ISPs are believed to be affected.• When Miriam began floor time with Louisa, she also ran into some obstacles.• He threw the foul cloth into the bushes and ran into the house.• They therefore do not run into this difficulty.run into trouble/problems/difficulties• Inevitably, the proposal is running into difficulties.• It may be essential for you to have a sympathetic ear if you run into difficulties.• The talks have quickly run into problems.• Some heavily-indebted developers have run into trouble, causing problems for the finance companies that back them.• It was a year that also saw Barings run into trouble keeping personnel.• Is there some one to call if the customer runs into problems or has questions?• If you do run into difficulties, there are two possibilities; neither of which is desirable. 1.• But Netanyahu could run into trouble with his Cabinet and top advisers, or other disagreements could break out among the negotiators.run into hundreds/thousands etc• All the costs of getting a mortgage, moving and setting up home can run into thousands.• And, of course, the cost - that ran into thousands.• Others take a proportion of the cost of the house and, consequently, the fee can run into thousands.• The number of deaths could run into hundreds.• There are certainly hundreds of people who could be involved and the number could even run into thousands.• These could run into thousands of pounds is a helicopter is involved.• Last night, it was feared that the cost of the disaster could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.• Potentially the number of claims could run into thousands: the inventory covers only part of the national collections.From Longman Business Dictionaryrun into something phrasal verb1run into difficulties/problems/debt to start to experience difficultiesshareholders who sue when institutions run into financial difficulties2run into hundreds/thousands etc to reach an amount of several hundred, several thousand etcAttorneys’ fees can run into tens of millions of dollars in business litigation.3run something into the ground to harm or destroy a company by using too much of its moneyI got tired of seeing guys run banks into the ground and then leave with a massive fortune. → run→ See Verb table 