end around

Meanings

1. 1nouncountablesport

   A football play in which a player who normally lines up wide, such as a receiver, takes the ball behind the line and runs around the far end of the formation.

   Grammar: Takes an or the: the team ran an end around.

   Patterns

   • run an end around
   • an end around to someone

   The coach called an end around on third down, and the wide receiver slipped past two defenders.

   Nobody expected an end around so close to our goal line.

   Their best play of the game was an end around that gained thirty yards.

2. 2nouncountablefigurativeinformal

   A clever indirect move that gets past an obstacle, rule or opponent by avoiding it instead of confronting it.

   Grammar: Often follows do or make: the lobbyists did an end around the committee.

   Patterns

   • do an end around something
   • an end around the rules

   Rather than fight the board, the manager made an end around it and pitched the idea straight to investors.

   The senator's amendment was an end around the usual approval process.

   Critics called the new policy an end around the court's ruling.

Word forms

Common combinations

run an end around

The quarterback decided to run an end around on the first drive.

call an end around

She called an end around when the defense kept stacking the middle.

a trick end around

The trick end around fooled the whole defense.

an end around the system

Using a personal email account was an end around the company's approval system.

do an end around

They did an end around the usual hiring rules.

Synonyms and how they differ

end run

End run is the more common term for the same idea in everyday English, and it is also the older football term for a run around the end of the line.

workaround

A workaround is a practical fix for a technical problem, while an end around suggests dodging a person, rule or authority.

bypass

Bypass is a neutral, general word, whereas end around carries a sense of cleverness or sneakiness.

Opposites

Word family

end run noun

a running play around the end of the line, or a clever way of avoiding something

end noun

the player or position at the edge of the offensive or defensive line

around preposition

the part that gives the move its sense of going past

Commonly confused: end around or run around?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “end around”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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