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) 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