run in the family

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run in the family (third-person singular simple present runs in the family, present participle running in the family, simple past ran in the family, past participle run in the family)

1. (idiomatic, somewhat derogatory) To be a characteristic feature that is observed in several generations of a family.
   • 1945 January and February, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—III”, in Railway Magazine, pages 13–14:

     We could never understand why any man should choose the career of a chainsmith, except, possibly, for the reason that it ran in the family, for a more arduous and unpleasant manner of earning one's living could scarcely be imagined, unless it was the business of moulding permanent-way chairs in an iron foundry.

   • 2008, “Runs in the Family”, in Who Killed Amanda Palmer, performed by Amanda Palmer:

     And business runs in the family / We tend to bruise easily bad in the blood