run-in

/ˌrʌn ˈɪn/

A run-in is a confrontation or an argument. Peaceful protests go more smoothly when protestors avoid run-ins with the police.

If you get in a fight with your brother about how he never loads the dishwasher, you can call that a run-in. A more serious kind of run-in might be a shoplifter's run-in with a store security guard or a basketball player's angry run-in with a referee that gets him benched for the rest of the season. Before 1905, run-in meant an instance of actually running somewhere.

Definitions of run-in

1. noun

   an angry dispute
   synonyms: dustup, quarrel, row, words, wrangle

   types:

   affray, altercation, fracas

   noisy quarrel

   bicker, bickering, fuss, pettifoggery, spat, squabble, tiff

   a quarrel about petty points

   bust-up

   a serious quarrel (especially one that ends a friendship)

   batrachomyomachia

   a silly altercation

   type of:

   conflict, difference, difference of opinion, dispute

   a disagreement or argument about something important