run before
verb1
Archaic To flee from (something); to run away from (something).
- In such wise did Helgi Deal fear around To all his foes And all their friends As when the goat runneth Before the wolf's rage Filled with mad fear Down from the fell1888, Ernest Rhys, editor, Songs from the Edda, page 166:
- Thou runnest before me, shifting every place, and darest not stand, nor look me in the face1600, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, page 73:
2
Archaic To precede (something); to anticipate (something).
- Thy tongue runneth before thy wit.1858, John Heywood, edited by John S. Farmer, The Proverbs of John Heywood, London, page 205:
- although calumnie often starteth first and runneth before, yet veritie follow followeth her at the heels1638, A. Jhonston, Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh, page 34:
3
Archaic To excel or be better than someone.
- Thou runnest before rightly1609, Boethius, Boethius: The Theological Tractates, page 309: