Meaning & use
running up the score
Last updated
Meanings
phraseidiomsportdisapproving
Continuing to score many points against an opponent who is already clearly beaten, often seen as unkind or showing off.
Grammar: Verb form changes with tense: they ran up the score, they keep running up the score.
Patterns
- run up the score against someone
- accuse someone of running up the score
The coach apologized for running up the score in a 60-0 win.
Some fans booed their own team for running up the score against a school with half the players.
With ten minutes left, the veterans stopped running up the score and let the reserves play.
phraseidiomfigurativedisapproving
Figuratively, pushing an advantage too far by continuing to beat or humiliate someone who has already lost.
Grammar: Used outside sport for any competition or argument.
Patterns
- stop running up the score
- run up the score in something
Once she had won the argument, she kept running up the score by listing his earlier mistakes.
The candidate was criticized for running up the score with personal attacks after the debate was already decided.
Stop running up the score; he already knows he lost.
Common combinations
- accused of running up the score
- The team was accused of running up the score in the final quarter.
- stop running up the score
- The referee asked them to stop running up the score.
- no point in running up the score
- There is no point in running up the score when the game is decided.
- deliberately run up the score
- They did not deliberately run up the score; they just kept scoring.
Synonyms and how they differ
- piling it on
- Piling it on is more informal and can apply to criticism or work, not only scoring.
- rubbing it in
- Rubbing it in stresses reminding the loser of their failure, while running up the score stresses piling on points.
- overkill
- Overkill is a general word for excessive force or effort, with no particular link to scoring.
- kicking someone when they're down
- This idiom emphasizes cruelty toward someone already defeated, which is stronger than the sporting sense of running up the score.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: running up the score or keeping score?
running up the score vs keeping score
Keeping score means recording points, or tracking who owes whom, and does not imply unkindness the way running up the score does.
Practice
The coach pulled his starters in the third quarter because he did not want to be seen as ____.
Choose one answer.
Running up the score means continuing to pile on points against a beaten opponent. 'Running away with the game' is tempting, but it just means winning easily and is not disapproving.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “running up the score”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.