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I'm reading a Aesop's fable, The Kingdom of the Lion. I cannot understand the last sentence in the fable:

And after the Hare said this, he ran for his life.

What's the meaning of the phrase "ran for"?

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2 Answers

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"Run for" is not the applicable phrase. The parsing is [run] [for his life], that is, the Hare ran as if his life depended on it.

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While "run as if to save one's life" is a common meaning of the phrase, in the instance the OP's asking about it seems to mean "run to save one's life", as the other answer suggests. – msh210 Feb 6 '12 at 21:04
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It means that the Hare ran to save his life (apparently his life was in danger).

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Do you mean that the Hare just ran away to avoid to be eaten? – Cook Schelling Feb 6 '12 at 6:22
@CookSchelling: That's exactly the meaning. – Irene Feb 6 '12 at 6:27
Think of it as "the hare ran [for the sake of] his life." – Blrfl Feb 6 '12 at 11:37

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