run of the mill

Slang Dictionary

run-of-the-mill definition


  1. mod.
    average; typical. (Referring to the typical quality of a product that comes out of a mill.) : This stuff is just run-of-the-mill.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

run of the mill

Ordinary, average, as in There's nothing special about these singersthey're just run of the mill. This expression alludes to fabrics coming directly from a mill without having been sorted or inspected for quality. It has survived such similar phrases as run of the mine and run of the kiln, for the products of mines and kilns. [Late 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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