Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- Football. Also called end sweep, sweep. a running play in which the ball-carrier attempts to outflank the defensive end.
- Informal.
- an evasive or diversionary maneuver.
- an attempt to surmount a difficulty without confronting it directly.
Evasive action, as in The new department head was making an end run around the old hands who opposed her appointment. This term comes from American football, where it denotes an offensive play in which the ball carrier runs around one end of the opposing team’s line. [Mid-1900s]