run a fever

run a fever

To have an abnormally high body temperature (a fever), which is indicative of or caused by illness; to have a fever. After my toddler was lethargic all day, I begin to worry that she was running a fever.

See also: fever, run

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

run a fever and run a temperature

to have a body temperature higher than normal; to have a fever. I ran a fever when I had the flu. The baby is running a temperature and is grouchy.

See also: and, fever, run, temperature

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

run a fever

Also, run a temperature. Suffer from a body temperature higher than normal, as in She was running a fever so I kept her home from school. These idioms use run in the sense of "cause to move," in this case upward. [Early 1900s]

See also: fever, run

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.