| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
run (rʌn) ![]() | |
| —vb (usually foll by to) (often foll by to) , runs, running, ran, run | |
| 1. | (intr) |
| a. (of a two-legged creature) to move on foot at a rapid pace so that both feet are off the ground together for part of each stride | |
| b. (of a four-legged creature) to move at a rapid gait; gallop or canter | |
| 2. | (tr) to pass over (a distance, route, etc) in running: to run a mile; run a race |
| 3. | (intr) to run in or finish a race as specified, esp in a particular position: John is running third |
| 4. | (tr) to perform or accomplish by or as if by running: to run an errand |
| 5. | (intr) to flee; run away: they took to their heels and ran |
| 6. | (tr) to bring into a specified state or condition by running: to run oneself to a standstill |
| 7. | (tr) to track down or hunt (an animal): to run a fox to earth |
| 8. | (intr) to move about freely and without restraint: the children are running in the garden |
| 9. | to go or have recourse, as for aid, assistance, etc: he's always running to his mother when he's in trouble |
| 10. | (tr) to set (animals) loose on (a field or tract of land) so as to graze freely |
| 11. | (intr |
| 12. | to move quickly and easily on wheels by rolling, or in any of certain other ways: a ball running along the ground; a sledge running over snow |
| 13. | to move or cause to move with a specified result or in a specified manner: to run a ship aground; to run into a tree |
| 14. | ( |
| 15. | (tr |
| 16. | (tr) to drive or maintain and operate (a vehicle) |
| 17. | (tr) to give a lift to (someone) in a vehicle; transport: he ran her to the railway station |
| 18. | to ply or cause to ply between places on a route: the bus runs from Piccadilly to Golders Green |
| 19. | to operate or be operated; function or cause to function: the engine is running smoothly |
| 20. | (tr) to perform or carry out: to run tests |
| 21. | (tr) to be in charge of; manage: to run a company |
| 22. | to extend or continue or cause to extend or continue in a particular direction, for a particular duration or distance, etc: the road runs north; the play ran for two years; the months ran into years |
| 23. | (intr) law |
| a. to have legal force or effect: the lease runs for two more years | |
| b. to accompany; be an integral part of or adjunct to: an easement runs with the land | |
| 24. | (tr) to be subjected to, be affected by, or incur: to run a risk; run a temperature |
| 25. | to be characterized (by); tend or incline: her taste runs to extravagant hats; to run to fat |
| 26. | (intr) to recur persistently or be inherent: red hair runs in my family |
| 27. | to cause or allow (liquids) to flow or (of liquids) to flow, esp in a manner specified: water ran from the broken pipe; the well has run dry |
| 28. | (intr) to melt and flow: the wax grew hot and began to run |
| 29. | metallurgy |
| a. to melt or fuse | |
| b. (tr) to mould or cast (molten metal): to run lead into ingots | |
| 30. | (intr) (of waves, tides, rivers, etc) to rise high, surge, or be at a specified height: a high sea was running that night |
| 31. | (intr) to be diffused: the colours in my dress ran when I washed it |
| 32. | (intr) (of stitches) to unravel or come undone or (of a garment) to have stitches unravel or come undone: if you pull that thread the whole seam will run |
| 33. | to sew (an article) with continuous stitches |
| 34. | (intr) (of growing vines, creepers, etc) to trail, spread, or climb: ivy running over a cottage wall |
| 35. | (intr) to spread or circulate quickly: a rumour ran through the town |
| 36. | (intr) to be stated or reported: his story runs as follows |
| 37. | to publish or print or be published or printed in a newspaper, magazine, etc: they ran his story in the next issue |
| 38. | chiefly (US), (Canadian) ( |
| 39. | (tr) to get past or through; evade: to run a blockade |
| 40. | (tr) to deal in (arms, etc), esp by importing illegally: he runs guns for the rebels |
| 41. | nautical to sail (a vessel, esp a sailing vessel) or (of such a vessel) to be sailed with the wind coming from astern |
| 42. | (intr) of fish |
| a. to migrate upstream from the sea, esp in order to spawn | |
| b. to swim rapidly in any area of water, esp during migration | |
| 43. | (tr) cricket to score (a run or number of runs) by hitting the ball and running between the wickets |
| 44. | (tr) billiards, snooker to make (a number of successful shots) in sequence |
| 45. | (tr) golf to hit (the ball) so that it rolls along the ground |
| 46. | (tr) bridge to cash (all one's winning cards in a long suit) successively |
| 47. | run a bath to turn on the taps to fill a bath with water for bathing oneself |
| 48. | run close to compete closely with; present a serious challenge to: he got the job, but a younger man ran him close |
| 49. | informal run for it to attempt to escape from arrest, etc, by running |
| 50. | be run off one's feet to be extremely busy |
| —n | |
| 51. | an act, instance, or period of running |
| 52. | a gait, pace, or motion faster than a walk: she went off at a run |
| 53. | a distance covered by running or a period of running: a run of ten miles |
| 54. | an act, instance, or period of travelling in a vehicle, esp for pleasure: to go for a run in the car |
| 55. | free and unrestricted access: we had the run of the house and garden for the whole summer |
| 56. | a. a period of time during which a machine, computer, etc, operates |
| b. the amount of work performed in such a period | |
| 57. | a continuous or sustained period: a run of good luck |
| 58. | a continuous sequence of performances: the play had a good run |
| 59. | cards a sequence of winning cards in one suit, usually more than five: a run of spades |
| 60. | tendency or trend: the run of the market |
| 61. | type, class, or category: the usual run of graduates |
| 62. | ( |
| 63. | a series of unravelled stitches, esp in stockings or tights; ladder |
| 64. | the characteristic pattern or direction of something: the run of the grain on a piece of wood |
| 65. | a. a continuous vein or seam of ore, coal, etc |
| b. the direction in which it lies | |
| 66. | a. a period during which water or other liquid flows |
| b. the amount of such a flow | |
| 67. | a pipe, channel, etc, through which water or other liquid flows |
| 68. | (US) a small stream |
| 69. | green run blue run red run See also black run a steeply inclined pathway or course, esp a snow-covered one used for skiing and bobsleigh racing |
| 70. | an enclosure for domestic fowls or other animals, in which they have free movement: a chicken run |
| 71. | (esp in Australia and New Zealand) a tract of land for grazing livestock |
| 72. | a track or area frequented by animals: a deer run; a rabbit run |
| 73. | a group of animals of the same species moving together |
| 74. | the migration of fish upstream in order to spawn |
| 75. | nautical |
| a. the tack of a sailing vessel in which the wind comes from astern | |
| b. part of the hull of a vessel near the stern where it curves upwards and inwards | |
| 76. | military |
| a. a mission in a warplane | |
| b. short for bombing run | |
| 77. | the movement of an aircraft along the ground during takeoff or landing |
| 78. | music a rapid scalelike passage of notes |
| 79. | cricket extra Compare boundary a score of one, normally achieved by both batsmen running from one end of the wicket to the other after one of them has hit the ball |
| 80. | baseball an instance of a batter touching all four bases safely, thereby scoring |
| 81. | golf the distance that a ball rolls after hitting the ground |
| 82. | informal a run for one's money |
| a. a strong challenge or close competition | |
| b. pleasure derived from an activity | |
| 83. | in the long run as the eventual outcome of a sequence of events, actions, etc; ultimately |
| 84. | in the short run as the immediate outcome of a series of events, etc |
| 85. | on the run |
| a. escaping from arrest; fugitive | |
| b. in rapid flight; retreating: the enemy is on the run | |
| c. hurrying from place to place: she's always on the run | |
| 86. | slang the runs diarrhoea |
| [Old English runnen, past participle of (ge)rinnan; related to Old Frisian, Old Norse rinna, Old Saxon, Gothic, Old High German rinnan] | |
| run off | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | (intr) to depart in haste |
| 2. | (tr) to produce quickly, as copies on a duplicating machine |
| 3. | to drain (liquid) or (of liquid) to be drained |
| 4. | (tr) to decide (a race) by a runoff |
| 5. | (tr) to get rid of (weight, etc) by running |
| 6. | (intr) (of a flow of liquid) to begin to dry up; cease to run |
| 7. | run off with |
| a. to steal; purloin | |
| b. to elope with | |
| —n | |
| 8. | a. an extra race to decide the winner after a tie |
| b. a contest or election held after a previous one has failed to produce a clear victory for any one person | |
| 9. | that portion of rainfall that runs into streams as surface water rather than being absorbed into ground water or evaporating |
| 10. | the overflow of a liquid from a container |
| 11. | (NZ) grazing land for store cattle |
run definition
|
run off definition
|
run off
Escape; see run away, def. 2.
Flow off, drain, as in By noon all the water had run off the driveway. [Early 1700s]
Print, duplicate, or copy, as in We ran off 200 copies of the budget. [Late 1800s]
Decide a contest or competition, as in The last two events will be run off on Tuesday. [Late 1800s]
Also, run someone out. Force or drive someone away, as in The security guard ran off the trespassers, or They ran him out of town. [Early 1700s]
Produce or perform quickly and easily, as in After years of practice, he could run off a sermon in a couple of hours. [Late 1600s]