run its course
Idioms-
Proceed to its logical or natural conclusion, as in The doctor said the cold would probably run its course within a week. This idiom employs course in the sense of “an onward movement in a particular path.” [Second half of 1500s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dementia is a special illness, and it can take a long time to run its course.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 11, 2026
So this conflict has yet to run its course.
From BBC • Mar. 1, 2026
The LHC is expected to have fully run its course by around 2040.
From Barron's • Jan. 27, 2026
With this food source for elephants and other wildlife being depleted, conservationists debated whether to cull the elephants or let nature run its course.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025
Many, of course, have escaped, the fever having run its course.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.