'To run into the ground' definitions:

Definition of 'To run into the ground'

From: GCIDE

Run \Run\, v. t.
1. To cause to run (in the various senses of Run, v. i.); as, to run a horse; to run a stage; to run a machine; to run a rope through a block. [1913 Webster]
2. To pursue in thought; to carry in contemplation. [1913 Webster]
To run the world back to its first original. --South. [1913 Webster]
I would gladly understand the formation of a soul, and run it up to its "punctum saliens." --Collier. [1913 Webster]
3. To cause to enter; to thrust; as, to run a sword into or through the body; to run a nail into the foot. [1913 Webster]
You run your head into the lion's mouth. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
Having run his fingers through his hair. --Dickens. [1913 Webster]
4. To drive or force; to cause, or permit, to be driven. [1913 Webster]
They ran the ship aground. --Acts xxvii. 41. [1913 Webster]
A talkative person runs himself upon great inconveniences by blabbing out his own or other's secrets. --Ray. [1913 Webster]
Others, accustomed to retired speculations, run natural philosophy into metaphysical notions. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
5. To fuse; to shape; to mold; to cast; as, to run bullets, and the like. [1913 Webster]
The purest gold must be run and washed. --Felton. [1913 Webster]
6. To cause to be drawn; to mark out; to indicate; to determine; as, to run a line. [1913 Webster]
7. To cause to pass, or evade, offical restrictions; to smuggle; -- said of contraband or dutiable goods. [1913 Webster]
Heavy impositions . . . are a strong temptation of running goods. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
8. To go through or accomplish by running; as, to run a race; to run a certain career. [1913 Webster]
9. To cause to stand as a candidate for office; to support for office; as, to run some one for Congress. [Colloq. U.S.] [1913 Webster]
10. To encounter or incur, as a danger or risk; as, to run the risk of losing one's life. See To run the chances, below. "He runneth two dangers." --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. --Dan Quail . [PJC]
11. To put at hazard; to venture; to risk. [1913 Webster]
He would himself be in the Highlands to receive them, and run his fortune with them. --Clarendon. [1913 Webster]
12. To discharge; to emit; to give forth copiously; to be bathed with; as, the pipe or faucet runs hot water. [1913 Webster]
At the base of Pompey's statua, Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
13. To be charged with, or to contain much of, while flowing; as, the rivers ran blood. [1913 Webster]
14. To conduct; to manage; to carry on; as, to run a factory or a hotel. [Colloq. U.S.] [1913 Webster]
15. To tease with sarcasms and ridicule. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
16. To sew, as a seam, by passing the needle through material in a continuous line, generally taking a series of stitches on the needle at the same time. [1913 Webster]
17. To migrate or move in schools; -- said of fish; esp., to ascend a river in order to spawn. [1913 Webster]
18. (Golf) To strike (the ball) in such a way as to cause it to run along the ground, as when approaching a hole. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
To run a blockade, to get to, or away from, a blockaded port in safety.
To run down. (a) (Hunting) To chase till the object pursued is captured or exhausted; as, to run down a stag. (b) (Naut.) To run against and sink, as a vessel. (c) To crush; to overthrow; to overbear. "Religion is run down by the license of these times." --Berkeley. (d) To disparage; to traduce. --F. W. Newman.
To run hard. (a) To press in competition; as, to run one hard in a race. (b) To urge or press importunately. (c) To banter severely.
To run into the ground, to carry to an absurd extreme; to overdo. [Slang, U.S.] (c) To erect hastily, as a building. [1913 Webster]