Meaning & use
bank run
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablefinance
A sudden rush by many customers to take their money out of a bank because they fear it may collapse.
Grammar: Countable: a bank run began; bank runs are rare today.
Patterns
- a run on a bank
- trigger a bank run
Rumors on social media triggered a bank run within hours.
The government guaranteed deposits to stop a bank run.
A bank run can ruin a healthy bank because it cannot pay everyone at once.
Word forms
| plural | bank runs |
|---|
Common combinations
- trigger a bank run
- One false rumor could trigger a bank run.
- cause a bank run
- Panic can cause a bank run even when the bank is sound.
- prevent a bank run
- Deposit insurance helps prevent a bank run.
- a digital bank run
- A digital bank run can drain accounts in a single afternoon.
- fear of a bank run
- Fear of a bank run led regulators to step in.
Synonyms and how they differ
- run on the bank
- This is the same event in a longer wording, and it is often the more traditional phrase.
- panic
- Panic is the fear itself, while a bank run is the specific action of people withdrawing money.
- stampede
- Stampede is a vivid figurative word for a hasty rush, and unlike bank run it is not specific to money.
Word family
- run noun
- a sudden large demand, as in a run on a bank
- depositor noun
- a person who keeps money in a bank
- withdrawal noun
- the act of taking money out of an account
- solvent adjective
- having enough money to pay debts, which a bank run can threaten
Commonly confused: bank run or bank robbery?
bank run vs bank robbery
A bank robbery is a crime in which thieves steal from a bank, while a bank run is customers legally taking out their own money.
Practice
What usually causes a bank run?
Choose one answer.
A bank run is driven by fear of failure and mass withdrawals. A robbery is a different event, which is why that option is a tempting but wrong answer.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bank run”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.