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Run

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walk

English

Pronunciation

• SAMPA: /r\Vn/
• IPA: /ɹʌn/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
•  Audio^{help, file}

Etymology

• From Old English rinnan.

a runner running (sense 1)

Noun

run (plural runs)

1. The act of running.

   I just got back from my run.

2. The route taken while running.

   Which run did you do today?

3. A flow of liquid; a leak.

   The constant run of water from the faucet annoys me.

4. (US) A small creek or part thereof.
5. The amount of something made.

   The book’s initial press run will be 5,000 copies.

   The run of the show lasted two weeks, and we sold out every night.

6. The top of a step on a staircase, also called a tread, as opposed to the rise.
7. A production quantity in a factory.

   Yesterday we did a run of 12,000 units.

8. A pace faster than a walk.

   He broke into a run.

9. (of horses) A fast gallop.
10. An interval of distance or time, a period marked by a continuing trend.

    He went to Las Vegas and spent all his money over a three-day run.

    I’m having a run of bad luck.

11. A series of tries in a game that were successful.
12. A regular trip or route.

    The bus on the Cherry Street run is always crowded.

13. A standard or unexceptional group or category.

    He stood out from the usual run of applicants.

14. An enclosure for an animal; a track or path along which something can travel.

    He set up a rabbit run.

15. An errand or the journey associated with an errand.

    I need to make a run to the store.

16. A pleasure trip.

    Let's go for a run in the car.

17. (skiing, bobsledding) A single trip down a hill, as in skiing and bobsledding.
18. (baseball, cricket) A point scored in baseball and cricket.
19. (music) A rapid passage in music, especially along a scale.
20. A sequence of cards in a suit in a card game.
21. A sudden series of demands on a bank or other financial institution, especially characterised by great withdrawals.

    Financial insecurity led to a run on the banks, as customers feared for the security of their savings.

22. Any sudden large demand for something.

    There was a run on Christmas presents.

23. Unrestricted use of an area.

    He can have the run of the house.

24. 

    

    Stockings with a run in them
    A line of knit stitches that has unravelled, particularly in a nylon stocking.

    I have a run in my stocking.

25. (nautical) The stern of the underwater body of a ship from where it begins to curve upward and inward.
26. (roofing) horizontal dimension of a slope.

Synonyms

• (unravelling): (British) ladder

Related terms

• (computer science): trajectory

Translations

Adjective

run (not comparable)

1. In a liquid state; melted; molten.

   Put some run butter on the vegetables.

2. Exhausted; depleted (especially with "down" or "out".)

Verb

to run (third-person singular simple present runs, present participle running, simple past ran, past participle run)

1. (intransitive) To move forward quickly upon two feet by alternately making a short jump off of either foot, compare: walk.

   Run, Sarah, run!

2. (intransitive) To go at a fast pace, to move quickly.

   The horse ran the length of the track.

   I have been running all over the building looking for him.

   Sorry, I've got to run; my house is on fire.

3. (intransitive, metaphorical) To move or spread quickly.

   There's a strange story running around the neighborhood.

   The flu is running through my daughter's kindergarten.

4. (transitive) To cause to move quickly; to make move lightly.

   Every day I run my dog across the field and back.

   I'll just run the vacuum cleaner over the carpet.

   Run your fingers through my hair.

5. (transitive) To control or manage, be in charge of.

   My uncle ran a corner store for forty years.

   She runs the fundraising.

   My parents think they run my life.

6. (intransitive) Of a liquid, to flow.

   The river runs through the forest.

   There's blood running down your leg.

7. (intransitive) Of an object, to have a liquid flowing from it.

   Your nose is running.

   Why is the hose still running?

   My cup runneth over.

8. (transitive) To make a liquid flow; to make liquid flow from an object.

   You'll have to run the water a while before it gets hot.

   Run the tap until the water gets hot.

9. (intransitive) To extend in space or through a range of possibilities (often with a measure phrase).

   The border runs for 3000 miles.

   The leash runs along a wire.

   The grain of the wood runs to the right on this table.

   It ran in quality from excellent to substandard.

10. (intransitive) To extend in time, to last, to continue (usually with a measure phrase).

    The sale will run for ten days.

    The contract runs through 2008.

    The meeting ran late.

    The book runs 655 pages.

    The speech runs as follows:...

11. (transitive) To make something extend in space.

    I need to run this wire along the wall.

12. (intransitive) Of a machine, including computer programs, to be operating or working normally.

    My car stopped running.

    That computer runs twenty-four hours a day.

    Buses don't run here on Sunday.

13. (transitive) To make a machine operate.

    It's full. You can run the dishwasher now.

    Don't run the engine so fast.

14. (transitive) To execute or carry out a plan, procedure, or program.

    They ran twenty blood tests on me and they still don't know what's wrong.

    Our coach had us running plays for the whole practice.

    I will run the sample.

    Don't run that software unless you have permission.

    My computer is too old to run the new OS.

15. (transitive or intransitive) To compete in a race.

    The horse will run the Preakness next year.

    I'm not ready to run a marathon.

16. (intransitive) To be a candidate in an election.

    I have decided to run for governor of California.

    We're trying to find somebody to run against him next year.

17. (transitive) To make run in a race or an election.

    He ran his best horse in the Derby.

    The Green Party is running twenty candidates in this election.

18. (intransitive) To be offered in one of the media.

    The story will run on the 6-o'clock news.

    The latest Robin Williams movie is running at the Silver City theatre.

    Her picture ran on the front page of the newspaper.

19. (transitive) To print or broadcast in the media.

    run a story

    run an ad

20. (intransitive) To leak or spread in an undesirable fashion , to bleed (especially used of dye or paint).

    He discovered during washing that the red rug ran on his white sheet, staining it pink.

21. (intransitive) To become different in a way mentioned (usually to become worse).

    Our supplies are running low.

    "I was no more than a boy / In the company of strangers / In the quiet of the railway station / Running scared." - Paul Simon: Boxer

22. (transitive) To go through without stopping, usually illegally.

    run a red light or stop sign

    run a blockade

23. (transitive) To transport someone or something.

    Could you run me over to the store?

    Please run this report upstairs to director's office.

24. (transitive) To smuggle illegal goods.

    run guns

    run rum

25. (transitive or intransitive) To cost a large amount of money.

    Buying a new laptop will run you a thousand dollars.

26. (intransitive) Of fish, to migrate for spawning.
27. (intransitive, soccer) To carry a football down the field.
28. (intransitive) Of stitches, to unravel.

    My stocking is running.

29. (intransitive) To flee away from a danger or towards help.

    Whenever things get tough, she cuts and runs.

    When he's broke, he runs to me for money.

30. (transitive, agriculture) To sort through a large volume of produce in quality control.

    Looks like we're gonna have to run the tomatoes again.

31. (intransitive) To control or have precedence in a card game.

    Every three or four hands he would run the table.

32. Past participle of run.

Synonyms

• go
• pass
• lead
• extend
• hunt
• hunt down
• track down
• travel
• speed
• hurry

Derived terms

Related terms

• gallop
• move
• walk

Translations

Anagrams

• Anagrams of nru
• urn

Mandarin

Pinyin syllable

run

1. A transliteration of any of a number of Chinese characters properly represented as having either of two tones, rún or rùn.

Usage notes

English transcriptions of Chinese speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Chinese language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Old English

Etymology

From the Germanic root *rūnō. Cognate with the Old Saxon rūna, Old High German rūna (and German Raun), Old Norse rún, and Gothic 𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌰 (rūna).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ru:n/

Noun

rūn f. (plural rūna or rūne)

1. mystery, secret

   rune healdan (to keep one's counsel)

2. advice, counsel
3. writing; a rune

Descendants

• English rune

See also

• dyrne a

Old Norse

Etymology

From the Germanic root *rūnō. Cognate with the Old English rūn, Old Saxon rūna, Old High German rūna (and German Raun), and Gothic 𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌰 (rūna).

Noun

rūn

1. secret
2. rune; writing, runes

   ᛟᛞᛁᚺᛁᚨᚠ ᛟᚾᚢᚱ ᛉᛁᛏᛊᚨᚷᚨᛞ [...]

   [ek go]dagastiR runo faihido

   [I, Gu]dgjest inscribed the runes. — 4th century inscription on the Einang stone, near Fagernes, Norway.

Polish

Noun

run

1. Genitive plural of runo.