Definitions for: Run


[n] a score in baseball made by a runner touching all four bases safely; "the Yankees scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th"; "their first tally came in the 3rd inning"
[n] the act of running; traveling on foot at a fast pace; "he broke into a run"; "his daily run keeps him fit"
[n] a regular trip; "the ship made its run in record time"
[n] a short trip; "take a run into town"
[n] a football play in which a player runs with the ball; "the defensive line braced to stop the run"; "the coach put great emphasis on running"
[n] the act of testing something; "in the experimental trials the amount of carbon was measured separately"; "he called each flip of the coin a new trial"
[n] the pouring forth of a fluid
[n] a row of unravelled stitches; "she got a run in her stocking"
[n] a race run on foot; "she broke the record for the half-mile run"
[n] an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies"
[n] a small stream
[v] pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals); "Goering often hunted wild boars in Poland"; "The dogs are running deer"; "The Duke hunted in these woods"
[v] become undone, as of clothes such as knitted fabrics; "the sweater unraveled"
[v] come unraveled or undone as if by snagging, of stockings; "Her nylons were running"
[v] reduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state, usually by heating; "melt butter"; "melt down gold"; "The wax melted in the sun"
[v] cause to perform; "run a subject"; "run a process"
[v] progress by being changed; "The speech has to go through several more drafts"; "run through your presentation before the meeting"
[v] change from one state to another; "run amok"; "run rogue"; "run riot"
[v] compete in a race; "he is running the Marathon this year"; "let's race and see who gets there first"
[v] run, stand, or compete for an office or a position; "Who's running for treasurer this year?"
[v] guide or pass over something; "He ran his eyes over her body"; "She ran her fingers along the carved figurine"; "He drew her hair through his fingers"
[v] perform as expected when applied; "The washing machine won't go unless it's plugged in"; "Does this old car still run well?"; "This old radio doesn't work anymore"
[v] be operating, running or functioning, as of engines or machines; "The car is still running--turn it off!"
[v] carry out; "run an errand"
[v] cause to be emit recorded sounds; "They ran the tapes over and over again"; "Can you play my favorite record?"
[v] include as the content; broadcast or publicize; "We ran the ad three times"; "This paper carries a restaurant review"; "All major networks carried the press conference"
[v] travel a route regularly; "Ships ply the waters near the coast"
[v] cover by running; run a certain distance; "She ran 10 miles that day"
[v] move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time; "Don't run--you'll be out of breath"; "The children ran to the store"
[v] travel rapidly, by any (unspecified) means; "Run to the store!"; "She always runs to Italy, because she has a lover there"
[v] run with the ball; in sports, such as football
[v] keep company; of male animals
[v] Nautical language: sail before the wind
[v] be diffused; "These dyes and colors are guaranteed not to run"
[v] move along, of liquids; "Water flowed into the cave"
[v] escape or flee; take to one's heels; cut and run; "If you see this man, run!"
[v] cause an animal to move fast; "run the dogs"
[v] move about freely and without restraint, or act as if running around in an uncontrolled way; "who are these people running around in the building?"; "She runs around telling everyone of her troubles"; "let the dogs run free"
[v] deal in illegally, such as arms or liquor
[v] set animals loose to graze
[v] direct or control; projects, businesses, etc.; "She is running a relief operation in the Sudan"
[v] make without a miss; in sports or games
[v] execute a program or process, as on a computer or a machine; "Run the dishwasher"; "run a new program on the Mac"
[v] occur persistently; "Musical talent runs in the family"
[v] continue to exist; "These stories die hard"; "The legend of Elvis endures"
[v] extend or continue for a certain period of time; "The film runs 5 hours"
[v] stretch out over a distance, space, time, or scope; run or extend between two points or beyond a certain point; "Service runs all the way to Cranbury"; "His knowledge doesn't go very far"; "My memory extends back to my fourth year of life"; "The facts extend beyond a consideration of her personal assets"
[v] cause something to pass or lead somewhere; "Run the wire behind the cabinet"
[v] have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined; "She tends to be nervous before her lectures"; "These dresses run small"; "He inclined to corpulence"
[v] be affected by; be subjected to; as in"run a temperature,"; "run a risk"
[v] have a particular form; "the story or argument runs....", "as the saying goes..."
[v] change or be different within limits; "Estimates for the losses in the earthquake range as high as $2 billion"; "Interest rates run from 5 to 10 percent"; "The instruments ranged from tuba to cymbals"; "My students range from very bright to dull"



Webster (1913) Definition: Run, v. t. (Golf)
To strike (the ball) in such a way as to cause it to run
along the ground, as when approaching a hole.


Run, v. i. [imp. Ranor Run; p. p. Run; p. pr. & vb.
n. Running.] [OE. rinnen, rennen (imp. ran, p. p. runnen,
ronnen). AS. rinnan to flow (imp. ran, p. p. gerunnen), and
iernan, irnan, to run (imp. orn, arn, earn, p. p. urnen);
akin to D. runnen, rennen, OS. & OHG. rinnan, G. rinnen,
rennen, Icel. renna, rinna, Sw. rinna, r["a]nna, Dan. rinde,
rende, Goth. rinnan, and perh. to L. oriri to rise, Gr. ? to
stir up, rouse, Skr. ? (cf. Origin), or perh. to L. rivus
brook (cf. Rival). [root]11. Cf. Ember, a., Rennet.]
1. To move, proceed, advance, pass, go, come, etc., swiftly,
smoothly, or with quick action; -- said of things animate
or inanimate. Hence, to flow, glide, or roll onward, as a
stream, a snake, a wagon, etc.; to move by quicker action
than in walking, as a person, a horse, a dog.
Specifically:

2. Of voluntary or personal action:
(a) To go swiftly; to pass at a swift pace; to hasten.

``Ha, ha, the fox!'' and after him they ran.
--Chaucer.
(b) To flee, as from fear or danger.

As from a bear a man would run for life. --Shak.
(c) To steal off; to depart secretly.

My conscience will serve me to run from this
jew. --Shak.
(d) To contend in a race; hence, to enter into a contest;
to become a candidate; as, to run for Congress.

Know ye not that they which run in a race run
all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that
ye may obtain. --1 Cor. ix.
24.
(e) To pass from one state or condition to another; to
come into a certain condition; -- often with in or
into; as, to run into evil practices; to run in debt.

Have I not cause to rave and beat my breast, to
rend my heart with grief and run distracted?
--Addison.
(f) To exert continuous activity; to proceed; as, to run
through life; to run in a circle.
(g) To pass or go quickly in thought or conversation; as,
to run from one subject to another.

Virgil, in his first Georgic, has run into a set
of precepts foreign to his subject. --Addison.
(h) To discuss; to continue to think or speak about
something; -- with on.
(i) To make numerous drafts or demands for payment, as
upon a bank; -- with on.
(j) To creep, as serpents.

3. Of involuntary motion:
(a) To flow, as a liquid; to ascend or descend; to course;
as, rivers run to the sea; sap runs up in the spring;
her blood ran cold.
(b) To proceed along a surface; to extend; to spread.

The fire ran along upon the ground. --Ex. ix.
23.
(c) To become fluid; to melt; to fuse.

As wax dissolves, as ice begins to run.
--Addison.

Sussex iron ores run freely in the fire.
--Woodward.
(d) To turn, as a wheel; to revolve on an axis or pivot;
as, a wheel runs swiftly round.
(e) To travel; to make progress; to be moved by mechanical
means; to go; as, the steamboat runs regularly to
Albany; the train runs to Chicago.
(f) To extend; to reach; as, the road runs from
Philadelphia to New York; the memory of man runneth
not to the contrary.

She saw with joy the line immortal run, Each
sire impressed, and glaring in his son. --Pope.
(g) To go back and forth from place to place; to ply; as,
the stage runs between the hotel and the station.


(h) To make progress; to proceed; to pass.

As fast as our time runs, we should be very glad
in most part of our lives that it ran much
faster. --Addison.
(i) To continue in operation; to be kept in action or
motion; as, this engine runs night and day; the mill
runs six days in the week.

When we desire anything, our minds run wholly on
the good circumstances of it; when it is
obtained, our minds run wholly on the bad ones.
--Swift.
(j) To have a course or direction; as, a line runs east
and west.

Where the generally allowed practice runs
counter to it. --Locke.

Little is the wisdom, where the flight So runs
against all reason. --Shak.
(k) To be in form thus, as a combination of words.

The king's ordinary style runneth, ``Our
sovereign lord the king.'' --Bp.
Sanderson.
(l) To be popularly known; to be generally received.

Men gave them their own names, by which they run
a great while in Rome. --Sir W.
Temple.

Neither was he ignorant what report ran of
himself. --Knolles.


(m) To have growth or development; as, boys and girls run
up rapidly.

If the richness of the ground cause turnips to
run to leaves. --Mortimer.
(n) To tend, as to an effect or consequence; to incline.

A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds.
--Bacon.

Temperate climates run into moderate
governments. --Swift.
(o) To spread and blend together; to unite; as, colors run
in washing.

In the middle of a rainbow the colors are . . .
distinguished, but near the borders they run
into one another. --I. Watts.
(p) To have a legal course; to be attached; to continue in
force, effect, or operation; to follow; to go in
company; as, certain covenants run with the land.

Customs run only upon our goods imported or
exported, and that but once for all; whereas
interest runs as well upon our ships as goods,
and must be yearly paid. --Sir J.
Child.
(q) To continue without falling due; to hold good; as, a
note has thirty days to run.
(r) To discharge pus or other matter; as, an ulcer runs.
(s) To be played on the stage a number of successive days
or nights; as, the piece ran for six months.
(t) (Naut.) To sail before the wind, in distinction from
reaching or sailing closehauled; -- said of vessels.

4. Specifically, of a horse: To move rapidly in a gait in
which each leg acts in turn as a propeller and a
supporter, and in which for an instant all the limbs are
gathered in the air under the body. --Stillman (The Horse
in Motion).

5. (Athletics) To move rapidly by springing steps so that
there is an instant in each step when neither foot touches
the ground; -- so distinguished from walking in athletic
competition.

As things run, according to the usual order, conditions,
quality, etc.; on the average; without selection or
specification.

To let run (Naut.), to allow to pass or move freely; to
slacken or loosen.

To run after, to pursue or follow; to search for; to
endeavor to find or obtain; as, to run after similes.
--Locke.

To run away, to flee; to escape; to elope; to run without
control or guidance.

To run away with.
(a) To convey away hurriedly; to accompany in escape or
elopement.
(b) To drag rapidly and with violence; as, a horse runs
away with a carriage.

To run down.
(a) To cease to work or operate on account of the
exhaustion of the motive power; -- said of clocks,
watches, etc.


(b) To decline in condition; as, to run down in health.

To run down a coast, to sail along it.

To run for an office, to stand as a candidate for an
office.

To run in or into.
(a) To enter; to step in.
(b) To come in collision with.

To run in trust, to run in debt; to get credit. [Obs.]

To run in with.
(a) To close; to comply; to agree with. [R.] --T. Baker.
(b) (Naut.) To make toward; to near; to sail close to; as,
to run in with the land.

To run mad, To run mad after or on. See under Mad.

To run on.
(a) To be continued; as, their accounts had run on for a
year or two without a settlement.
(b) To talk incessantly.
(c) To continue a course.
(d) To press with jokes or ridicule; to abuse with
sarcasm; to bear hard on.
(e) (Print.) To be continued in the same lines, without
making a break or beginning a new paragraph.

To run out.
(a) To come to an end; to expire; as, the lease runs out
at Michaelmas.
(b) To extend; to spread. ``Insectile animals . . . run
all out into legs.'' --Hammond.
(c) To expatiate; as, to run out into beautiful
digressions.
(d) To be wasted or exhausted; to become poor; to become
extinct; as, an estate managed without economy will
soon run out.

And had her stock been less, no doubt She must
have long ago run out. --Dryden.

To run over.
(a) To overflow; as, a cup runs over, or the liquor runs
over.
(b) To go over, examine, or rehearse cursorily.
(c) To ride or drive over; as, to run over a child.

To run riot, to go to excess.

To run through.
(a) To go through hastily; as to run through a book.
(b) To spend wastefully; as, to run through an estate.

To run to seed, to expend or exhaust vitality in producing
seed, as a plant; figuratively and colloquially, to cease
growing; to lose vital force, as the body or mind.

To run up, to rise; to swell; to grow; to increase; as,
accounts of goods credited run up very fast.

But these, having been untrimmed for many years, had
run up into great bushes, or rather dwarf trees.
--Sir W.
Scott.

To run with.
(a) To be drenched with, so that streams flow; as, the
streets ran with blood.
(b) To flow while charged with some foreign substance.
``Its rivers ran with gold.'' --J. H. Newman.


Run, v. t.
1. To cause to run (in the various senses of Run, v. i.);
as, to run a horse; to run a stage; to run a machine; to
run a rope through a block.

2. To pursue in thought; to carry in contemplation.

To run the world back to its first original.
--South.

I would gladly understand the formation of a soul,
and run it up to its ``punctum saliens.'' --Collier.

3. To cause to enter; to thrust; as, to run a sword into or
through the body; to run a nail into the foot.

You run your head into the lion's mouth. --Sir W.
Scott.

Having run his fingers through his hair. --Dickens.

4. To drive or force; to cause, or permit, to be driven.

They ran the ship aground. --Acts xxvii.
41.

A talkative person runs himself upon great
inconveniences by blabbing out his own or other's
secrets. --Ray.

Others, accustomed to retired speculations, run
natural philosophy into metaphysical notions.
--Locke.

5. To fuse; to shape; to mold; to cast; as, to run bullets,
and the like.

The purest gold must be run and washed. --Felton.

6. To cause to be drawn; to mark out; to indicate; to
determine; as, to run a line.

7. To cause to pass, or evade, offical restrictions; to
smuggle; -- said of contraband or dutiable goods.

Heavy impositions . . . are a strong temptation of
running goods. --Swift.

8. To go through or accomplish by running; as, to run a race;
to run a certain career.

9. To cause to stand as a candidate for office; to support
for office; as, to run some one for Congress. [Colloq.
U.S.]

10. To encounter or incur, as a danger or risk; as, to run
the risk of losing one's life. See To run the chances,
below. ``He runneth two dangers.'' --Bacon.



11. To put at hazard; to venture; to risk.

He would himself be in the Highlands to receive
them, and run his fortune with them. --Clarendon.

12. To discharge; to emit; to give forth copiously; to be
bathed with; as, the pipe or faucet runs hot water.

At the base of Pompey's statua, Which all the while
ran blood, great C[ae]sar fell. --Shak.

13. To be charged with, or to contain much of, while flowing;
as, the rivers ran blood.

14. To conduct; to manage; to carry on; as, to run a factory
or a hotel. [Colloq. U.S.]

15. To tease with sarcasms and ridicule. [Colloq.]

16. To sew, as a seam, by passing the needle through material
in a continuous line, generally taking a series of
stitches on the needle at the same time.

17. To migrate or move in schools; -- said of fish; esp., to
ascend a river in order to spawn.

To run a blockade, to get to, or away from, a blockaded
port in safety.

To run down.
(a) (Hunting) To chase till the object pursued is
captured or exhausted; as, to run down a stag.
(b) (Naut.) To run against and sink, as a vessel.
(c) To crush; to overthrow; to overbear. ``Religion is
run down by the license of these times.'' --Berkeley.
(d) To disparage; to traduce. --F. W. Newman.

To run hard.
(a) To press in competition; as, to run one hard in a
race.
(b) To urge or press importunately.
(c) To banter severely.

To run into the ground, to carry to an absurd extreme; to
overdo. [Slang, U.S.]



To run off, to cause to flow away, as a charge of molten
metal from a furnace.

To run on (Print.), to carry on or continue, as the type
for a new sentence, without making a break or commencing a
new paragraph.

To run out.
(a) To thrust or push out; to extend.
(b) To waste; to exhaust; as, to run out an estate.
(c) (Baseball) To put out while running between two
bases.

To run the chances, or one's chances, to encounter all
the risks of a certain course.

To run through, to transfix; to pierce, as with a sword.
``[He] was run through the body by the man who had asked
his advice.'' --Addison.

To run up.
(a) To thrust up, as anything long and slender.
(b) To increase; to enlarge by additions, as an account.


(c) To erect hastily, as a building.


Run, n.
1. The act of running; as, a long run; a good run; a quick
run; to go on the run.

2. A small stream; a brook; a creek.

3. That which runs or flows in the course of a certain
operation, or during a certain time; as, a run of must in
wine making; the first run of sap in a maple orchard.

4. A course; a series; that which continues in a certain
course or series; as, a run of good or bad luck.

They who made their arrangements in the first run of
misadventure . . . put a seal on their calamities.
--Burke.

5. State of being current; currency; popularity.

It is impossible for detached papers to have a
general run, or long continuance, if not diversified
with humor. --Addison.

6. Continued repetition on the stage; -- said of a play; as,
to have a run of a hundred successive nights.

A canting, mawkish play . . . had an immense run.
--Macaulay.

7. A continuing urgent demand; especially, a pressure on a
bank or treasury for payment of its notes.

8. A range or extent of ground for feeding stock; as, a sheep
run. --Howitt.

9. (Naut.)
(a) The aftermost part of a vessel's hull where it narrows
toward the stern, under the quarter.
(b) The distance sailed by a ship; as, a good run; a run
of fifty miles.
(c) A voyage; as, a run to China.

10. A pleasure excursion; a trip. [Colloq.]

I think of giving her a run in London. --Dickens.

11. (Mining) The horizontal distance to which a drift may be
carried, either by license of the proprietor of a mine or
by the nature of the formation; also, the direction which
a vein of ore or other substance takes.

12. (Mus.) A roulade, or series of running tones.

13. (Mil.) The greatest degree of swiftness in marching. It
is executed upon the same principles as the double-quick,
but with greater speed.

14. The act of migrating, or ascending a river to spawn; --
said of fish; also, an assemblage or school of fishes
which migrate, or ascend a river for the purpose of
spawning.

15. In baseball, a complete circuit of the bases made by a
player, which enables him to score one; in cricket, a
passing from one wicket to the other, by which one point
is scored; as, a player made three runs; the side went
out with two hundred runs.

The ``runs'' are made from wicket to wicket, the
batsmen interchanging ends at each run. --R. A.
Proctor.

16. A pair or set of millstones.

At the long run, now, commonly, In the long run, in or
during the whole process or course of things taken
together; in the final result; in the end; finally.

[Man] starts the inferior of the brute animals, but
he surpasses them in the long run. --J. H.
Newman.

Home run.
(a) A running or returning toward home, or to the point
from which the start was made. Cf. Home stretch.
(b) (Baseball) See under Home.

The run, or The common run, etc., ordinary persons; the
generality or average of people or things; also, that
which ordinarily occurs; ordinary current, course, or
kind.

I saw nothing else that is superior to the common
run of parks. --Walpole.

Burns never dreamed of looking down on others as
beneath him, merely because he was conscious of his
own vast superiority to the common run of men.
--Prof.
Wilson.

His whole appearance was something out of the common
run. --W. Irving.

To let go by the run (Naut.), to loosen and let run freely,
as lines; to let fall without restraint, as a sail.


Run, a.
1. Melted, or made from molten material; cast in a mold; as,
run butter; run iron or lead.

2. Smuggled; as, run goods. [Colloq.] --Miss Edgeworth.

Run steel, malleable iron castings. See under Malleable.
--Raymond.

Synonyms: be given, black market, bleed, carry, consort, course, discharge, draw, extend, flow, foot race, footrace, function, go, go, go, guide, hunt, hunt down, incline, ladder, lead, lean, melt, melt down, move, operate, operate, outpouring, pass, pass, play, ply, race, ravel, rill, rivulet, run for, runnel, running, running game, running play, streak, streamlet, tally, tend, test, track down, trial, unravel, work

Antonyms: idle, malfunction, misfunction

See Also: accompany, accomplish, ambush, apply, attempt, audition, be, be due, become, block, boat-race, break, break away, break up, brim over, broadcast, broadcast, bunk, campaign, capture, carry out, carry over, carry through, catch, cavort, change, circularise, circularise, circularize, circularize, circulate, circulate, circulate, clinical test, clinical trial, clip, come, come apart, come through, compete, contend, continue, course, crock, cross-file, cut, damage, dash, diffuse, diffuse, diffuse, direct, disintegrate, disperse, disperse, displace, disport, disseminate, disseminate, dissolve, distribute, distribute, double, drain, draw, draw play, dribble, drive, earned run, eddy, effort, end run, endeavor, endeavour, enforce, escape, execute, extend to, falcon, fall apart, fan out, ferret, filter, financier, fitting, flow, flow from, flowing, flush, football play, forage, fowl, foxhunt, free, frisk, frolic, fulfil, fulfill, fun run, funrun, fuse, gambol, get, go, go across, go away, go deep, go far, go forth, go through, gravitate, gush, gutter, hare, harm, hawk, horse-race, hurry, impairment, implement, incur, jack, jacklight, jaunt, jet, jet, jog, lam, lark, lark about, last, leak, leakage, leave, liberate, line, locomote, locomotion, loose, lope, losing streak, make pass, marathon, merchandise, Ministry of Transportation test, MOT, MOT test, move, obstacle race, occur, ooze, outflow, outrun, overflow, overrun, pass, pass around, pass around, pass over, pilot program, pilot project, place, poach, pour, preclinical phase, preclinical test, preclinical trial, process, propagate, propagate, purl, rabbit, race, radiate, ray, rbi, reach, register, release, render, rerun, rerun, resolve, return, reverberate, roll, rollick, romp, rub, run, run along, run around, run away, run bases, run batted in, run down, run off, run off, run out, run over, rush, rush, rushing, sail, scamper, scarper, score, scrounge, scurry, scuttle, seal, seep, separate, serve, service, show, skedaddle, skitter, skylark, snipe, speed, speed skate, spill, spirt, split up, sport, spread, spread, spread, spread out, sprint, sprint, spurt, squirt, steeplechase, still-hunt, streak, stream, stream, stump, succeed, succession, suffer, surge, sweep, swirl, take kindly to, tide, touch, track event, trade, travel, travel, travel rapidly, treat, tree, trickle, trip, trip, trot, try, try, trying on, try-on, tryout, turn tail, turtle, unearned run, unloose, unloosen, vie, warm up, waste, watercourse, well out, well over, whale, whirl, whirlpool, whistlestop, win, winning streak, wipe, work, zip

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