run

Etymology

From Middle English runnen, rennen (“to run”), alteration (due to the past participle runne, runnen, yronne) of Middle English rinnen (“to run”), from Old English rinnan, iernan (“to run”) and Old Norse rinna (“to run”), both from Proto-Germanic *rinnaną (“to run”) (compare also *rannijaną (“to make run”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH- (“to boil, churn”). Cognate with Scots rin (“to run”), West Frisian rinne (“to walk, march”), Dutch rennen (“to run, race”), Alemannic German ränne (“to run”), German rennen (“to run, race”), rinnen (“to flow”), Rhein, Danish rende (“to run”), Swedish ränna (“to run”), Swedish rinna (“to flow”), Icelandic renna (“to flow”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian rend (“to run, run after”). See random.

verb

To move swiftly.
1. (intransitive) To move forward quickly upon two feet by alternately making a short jump off either foot. (Compare walk.)
  Run, Sarah, run!
  
  Through the open front door ran Jessamy, down the steps to where Kitto was sitting at the bottom with the pram beside him. 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, page 122
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.
  
  Once I ran to you (I ran) / Now I run from you / This tainted love you've given / I give you all a boy could give you 1965, Ed Cobb, “Tainted Love”, in Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, performed by Soft Cell, published 1981
3. (transitive) To cause to move quickly or 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.
4. (transitive or intransitive) To compete in a race.
  The horse will run the Preakness next year.
  
  I'm not ready to run a marathon.
5. (transitive) To transport someone or something, notionally at a brisk pace.
  Could you run me over to the store?
  
  Please run this report upstairs to director's office.
6. (transitive, intransitive) Of a means of transportation: to travel (a route).
  the bus (train, plane, ferry boat, etc) runs between Newport and Riverside
  
  Small planes run between Alor and Langkawi. BUS: Express busses leave the bus terminal on the corner of Jl. Langgar and Jl. Stesyen for K. Kedah, […] 1997, Karl-Heinz Reger, Nelles Verlag Staff, Malaysia - Singapore - Brunei, Hunter Publishing, Inc, page 91
  
  The first steam ferry or tug, the Little Minnie, ran the river in the 1870s. When vehicles were to cross, a barge was affixed to the Minnie to carry them. The Bella Israel, a successor to the Little Minnie, sank in 1894 and 62 Along the[…] 2013-04-15, Mary Ann Sternberg, Along the River Road: Past and Present on Louisiana's Historic Byway, LSU Press, page 62
7. (transitive) To transit a length of a river, as in whitewater rafting.
  To put it frankly, if you people had to hire others to run the river and survey it for you, if, in short, you can't even run it yourself, why do think you can decide who is and who is not competent? River running, as has been[…] 1979, United States. Forest Service. Rocky Mountain Region, Piedra River: Final Environmental Impact Statement & Wild & Scenic River Study, page 74
8. (intransitive) Of fish, to migrate for spawning.
9. (American football, transitive or intransitive) To carry (a football) down the field, as opposed to passing or kicking.
  Then, on their second possession, Isaiah Ford ran for 11 yards after abandoning a flea flicker. … The Patriots ran the ball just 27 times despite averaging 5 yards per carry. December 29, 2019, Chad Finn, “24 thoughts on the Patriots’ loss to the Dolphins”, in Boston Globe
10. (transitive) To achieve or perform by running or as if by running.
  The horse ran a great race.
11. (intransitive) To flee from a danger or towards help.
  Whenever things get tough, she cuts and runs.
  
  When he's broke, he runs to me for money.
12. (figurative, transitive) To pass (without stopping), typically a stop signal, stop sign, or duty to yield the right of way.
  If you have a collision with a vehicle oncoming from the right, after having run priority to the right, you are at fault.
13. (transitive, juggling, colloquial) To juggle a pattern continuously, as opposed to starting and stopping quickly.
(fluids) To flow.
1. (intransitive) Of a liquid, to flow.
  The river runs through the forest.
  
  There's blood running down your leg.
2. (intransitive, figurative) To move or spread quickly.
  There's a strange story running around the neighborhood.
  
  The flu is running through my daughter's kindergarten.
3. (intransitive) Of an object, to have a liquid flowing from it.
  Your nose is running.
  
  Why is the hose still running?
4. (transitive) To make a liquid flow; to make liquid flow from or into an object.
  You'll have to run the water a while before it gets hot.
  
  Could you run a bath for me, please?
5. (intransitive) To become liquid; to melt.
  As Wax dissolves, as Ice begins to run, 1717 [a. 18 CE], Ovid, translated by Joseph Addison, Ovid's Metamorphoses in fifteen books. Translated by the most eminent hands. Adorn'd with sculptures, Book the Third, The Story of Narcissus, page 92
  
  The Sussex ores run pretty freely in the Fire for Iron-Ores; otherwise they would hardly be worth working. 1729, John Woodward, An Attempt Towards a Natural History of the Fossils of England, Tome I, page 223
6. (intransitive) To leak or spread in an undesirable fashion; to bleed (especially used of dye or paint).
  During washing, the red from the rug ran onto the white sheet, staining it pink.
7. To fuse; to shape; to mould; to cast.
  to run bullets
  
  But, my Lord, the fairest Diamonds are rough till they are polished, and the purest Gold must be run and washed, and sifted in the Oar. 1718, Henry Felton, A Dissertation on Reading the Classics, and Forming a Just Style, page 6
(nautical, of a vessel) To sail before the wind, in distinction from reaching or sailing close-hauled.
(transitive) To control or manage; to be in charge of.
My uncle ran a corner store for forty years.

She runs the fundraising.

My parents think they run my life.

He is running the candidate's expensive campaign.

A friend of mine who runs an intellectual magazine was grousing about his movie critic, complaining that though the fellow had liked The Godfather (page 58), he had neglected to label it clearly as a masterpiece. 1972-12-29, Richard Schickel, “Masterpieces underrated and overlooked”, in Life, volume 73, number 25, page 22

India is run by gerontocrats and epigones: grey hairs and groomed heirs. 2013-05-11, “What a waste”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8835, page 12
(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.
To make participate in certain kinds of competitions.
1. (transitive) To make run in a race.
  He ran his best horse in the Derby.
2. (transitive) To make run in an election.
  The Green Party is running twenty candidates in this election.
To exert continuous activity; to proceed.
to run through life; to run in a circle
(intransitive) To be presented in 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.
(transitive) To print or broadcast in the media.
run a story; run an ad
(transitive) To smuggle (illegal goods).
to run guns; to run rum

…whereas in the business of laying heavy impositions two and two never made more than one ; which happens by lessening the import, and the strong temptation of running such goods as paid high duties 1728, Jonathan Swift, “An answer to a paper, called A memorial of the poor inhabitants, tradesmen, and labourers of the kingdom of Ireland”, in The Works of Dr. Jonathan Swift, published 1757, page 175
(transitive, agriculture) To sort through a large volume of produce in quality control.
Looks like we're gonna have to run the tomatoes again.
To extend or persist, statically or dynamically, through space or time.
1. (intransitive) To extend in space or through a range (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.
2. (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: …
3. (transitive) To make something extend in space.
  I need to run this wire along the wall.
4. (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.
5. (transitive) To make a machine operate.
  It's full. You can run the dishwasher now.
  
  Don't run the engine so fast.
(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.
To pass or go quickly in thought or conversation.
to run from one subject to another

Virgil was so well acquainted with this Secret, that to set off his first Georgic, he has run into a set of Precepts, which are almost foreign to his Subject, 1697, Joseph Addison, “An essay on the Georgics”, in The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Aeneis, by John Dryden
(copulative) To become different in a way mentioned (usually to become worse).
Our supplies are running low.

They frequently overspent and soon ran into debt.

Have I not cause to rave, and beat my breast, / To rend my heart with grief and run distracted? 1712, Joseph Addison, Cato, a Tragedy, act IV, scene i

I was no more than a boy / In the company of strangers / In the quiet of the railway station / Running scared. 1968, Paul Simon (lyrics and music), “The Boxer”
(transitive) To cost a large amount of money.
Buying a new laptop will run you a thousand dollars.

Laptops run about a thousand dollars apiece.
(intransitive) Of stitches or stitched clothing, to unravel.
My stocking is running.
(transitive) To cause stitched clothing to unravel.
1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure He took off the nylons & had runned one. He said "now I really look like a street whore!"
To pursue in thought; to carry in contemplation.
To run the world back to its first original and infancy, and, as it were, to view nature in its cradle, 1692, Robert South, “Discourse I. The creation of man in God’s image”, in Discourses on Various Subjects and Occasions, published 1827, page 1

Methinks, if it might be, I would gladly understand the Formation of a Soul, run it up to its Punctum Saliens, and see it beat the first conscious Pulse. 1695, Jeremy Collier, “A Thought”, in Miscellanies upon Moral Subjects by Jeremy Collier, page 88
To cause to enter; to thrust.
to run a sword into or through the body; to run a nail into one's foot

“You run your head into the lion's mouth,” answered Mac-Ivor. 1814, Sir Walter Scott, Waverley

With that he took off his great-coat, and having run his fingers through his hair, thrust one hand gently in the bosom of his waistcoat 1844, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit
To drive or force; to cause, or permit, to be driven.
…besides all this, a talkative person must needs be impertinent, and speak many idle words, and so render himself burdensome and odious to Company, and may perchance run himself upon great Inconveniences, by blabbing out his own or other’s Secrets; 1691, John Ray, The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation

…and others, accustomed to retired speculations, run natural philosophy into metaphysical notions and the abstract generalities of logic ; 1706, John Locke, Of the Conduct of the Understanding, Section 24. Partiality
To cause to be drawn; to mark out; to indicate; to determine.
to run a line
To encounter or incur (a danger or risk).
to run the risk of losing one's life
To put at hazard; to venture; to risk.
To tease with sarcasms and ridicule.
To sew (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.
To control or have precedence in a card game.
Every three or four hands he would run the table.
To be in form thus, as a combination of words.
Which Sovereignity, with us, so undoubtedly resideth in the Person of the King, that his ordinary style runneth — Our Sovereign Lord the King 1722 [1647], Robert Sanderson, translated by Thomas Lewis, A Preservative Against Schism and Rebellion, in the Most Trying Times, volume 1, translation of De juramenti promissorii obligatione, page 355

The departure was not unduly prolonged. In the road Mr. Love and the driver favoured the company with a brief chanty running: “Got it?—No, I ain't, 'old on,—Got it? Got it?—No, 'old on sir.” 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest
(archaic) To be popularly known; to be generally received.
…great captains, and even consular men, who first brought them over, took pride in giving them their own names (by which they run a great while in Rome) c. 1685, William Temple, Upon the Gardens of Epicurus, published 1908, page 27
To have growth or development.
Boys and girls run up rapidly.
To tend, as to an effect or consequence; to incline.
It hath been observed, that the temperate climates usually run into moderate governments, and the extremes into despotic power. 1708, Jonathan Swift, “The Sentiments of a Church-of-England Man with respect to Religion and Government”, in The Works of Dr. Jonathan Swift, published 1757, page 235
To have a legal course; to be attached; to continue in force, effect, or operation; to follow; to go in company.
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. c. 1665, Josiah Child, Discourse on Trade
To encounter or suffer (a particular, usually bad, fate or misfortune).
(golf) To strike (the ball) in such a way as to cause it to run along the ground, as when approaching a hole.
(video games, rare) To speedrun.
(sports, especially baseball) To eject from a game or match.
Jackson got himself run in the top of the sixth for arguing a borderline strike three call.

noun

Act or instance of running, of moving rapidly using the feet.
I just got back from my morning run.

Krohn-Dehli took advantage of a lucky bounce of the ball after a battling run on the left flank by Simon Poulsen, dummied two defenders and shot low through goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg's legs after 24 minutes. June 9, 2012, Owen Phillips, “Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport
Act or instance of hurrying (to or from a place) (not necessarily on foot); dash or errand, trip.
[…] and on the 18th of January this squadron put to sea. The first place of rendezvous was the boy of port St. Julian, upon the coast of Patagonia, and all accidents were provided against with admirable foresight. Their run to port St. Julian was dangerous […] 1759, N. Tindal, The Continuation of Mr Rapin's History of England, volume 21 (continuation volume 9), page 92

I need to make a run to the store.
A pleasure trip.
Let's go for a run in the car.
Flight, instance or period of fleeing.
During his run from the police, he claimed to have a metaphysical experience which can only be described as “having passed through an abyss.” 2006, Tsirk Susej, The Demonic Bible, page 41
Migration (of fish).
A group of fish that migrate, or ascend a river for the purpose of spawning.
A literal or figurative path or course for movement relating to:
1. A (regular) trip or route.
  The bus on the Cherry Street run is always crowded.
  
  You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon? It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. 1977, Star Wars (film)
2. The route taken while running or skiing.
  Which run did you do today?
3. (skiing">skiing, bobsledding) A single trip down a hill, as in skiing">skiing and bobsledding.
4. The distance sailed by a ship.
  a good run; a run of fifty miles
5. A voyage.
  a run to China
6. A trial.
  The data got lost, so I'll have to perform another run of the experiment.
7. (mathematics, computing) The execution of a program or model
  This morning's run of the SHIPS statistical model gave Hurricane Priscilla a 74% chance of gaining at least 30 knots of intensity in 24 hours, reconfirmed by the HMON and GFS dynamical models.
8. (video games) A playthrough, or attempted playthrough; a session of play.
  This was my first successful run without losing any health.
Unrestricted use. Only used in have the run of.
He can have the run of the house.
An enclosure for an animal; a track or path along which something can travel.
He set up a rabbit run.
(Australia, New Zealand) Rural landholding for farming, usually for running sheep, and operated by a runholder.
State of being current; currency; popularity.
It is impossible for detached papers… to have a general run, or long continuance, if they are not diversified….
Continuous or sequential
1. A continuous period (of time) marked by a trend; a period marked by a continuing trend.
  I’m having a run of bad luck.
  
  He went to Las Vegas and spent all his money over a three-day run.
  
  German wildcard Sabine Lisicki conquered her nerves to defeat France's Marion Bartoli and take her amazing Wimbledon run into the semi-finals. June 28, 2011, Piers Newbery, “Wimbledon 2011: Sabine Lisicki beats Marion Bartoli”, in BBC Sport
2. A series of tries in a game that were successful.
  If our team can keep up their strong defense, expect them to make a run in this tournament.
3. A production quantity (such as in a factory).
  Yesterday we did a run of 12,000 units.
  
  The book’s initial press run will be 5,000 copies.
4. The period of showing of a play, film, TV series, etc.
  The run of the show lasted two weeks, and we sold out every night.
  
  It is the last week of our French cinema run.
5. (slang) A period of extended (usually daily) drug use.
  And I'll tell ya, things aren't quite the same / When I'm rushing on my run. 1964, The Velvet Underground, Heroin
  
  Frank Fixwell, a 25 year-old male, has been on a heroin "run" (daily use) for the past two years. 1975, Lloyd Y. Young, Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, Brian S. Katcher, Applied Therapeutics for Clinical Pharmacists
  
  1977, Richard P. Rettig, Manual J. Torres, Gerald R. Garrett, Manny: a criminal-addict's story, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) →ISBN I was hooked on dope, and hooked bad, during this whole period, but I was also hooked behind robbery. When you're on a heroin run, you stay loaded so long as you can score.
  
  This can develop quite quickly (over a matter of hours) during a cocaine run or when cocaine use becomes a daily habit. 2001, Robin J. Harman, Handbook of Pharmacy Health Education, Pharmaceutical Press, page 172
  
  DA depletion leads to the crash that characteristically ends a cocaine run. 2010, Robert DuPont, The Selfish Brain: Learning from Addiction, Hazelden Publishing, page 158
6. (card games) A sequence of cards in a suit in a card game.
7. (music) A rapid passage in music, especially along a scale.
A flow of liquid; a leak.
The constant run of water from the faucet annoys me.

a run of must in wine-making

the first run of sap in a maple orchard
(chiefly eastern Midland US, especially Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia) A small creek or part thereof. (Compare Southern US branch and New York and New England brook.)
The military campaign near that creek was known as "The battle of Bull Run".
A quick pace, faster than a walk.
He broke into a run.
1. (of horses) A fast gallop.
(banking) 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.
Any sudden large demand for something.
There was a run on Christmas presents.
Various horizontal dimensions or surfaces
1. The top of a step on a staircase, also called a tread, as opposed to the rise.
2. The horizontal length of a set of stairs
3. (construction) Horizontal dimension of a slope.
A standard or unexceptional group or category.
He stood out from the usual run of applicants.
In sports
1. (baseball) A score when a runner touches all bases legally; the act of a runner scoring.
2. (cricket) The act of passing from one wicket to another; the point scored for this.
3. (American football) A running play.
  … one of the greatest runs of all time.
  
  Aaron Roberts added an insurance touchdown on a one-yard run. 2003, Jack Seibold, Spartan Sports Encyclopedia, page 592
4. (golf) The movement communicated to a golf ball by running it.
5. (golf) The distance a ball travels after touching the ground from a stroke.
6. The distance drilled with a bit, in oil drilling.
  Well, when you compare the cone type with the cross roller bit, you get a longer run, there is less tendency of the bit to go flat while running in various formations. It cleans itself better. 1832, Records and Briefs of the United States Supreme Court, page 21
A line of knit stitches that have unravelled, particularly in a nylon stocking.
I have a run in my stocking.

A camera pans the cocktail hour / Behind a blind of potted palms / And finds a lady in a Paris dress / With runs in her nylons 1975, Joni Mitchell (lyrics and music), “The Boho Dance”, in The Hissing of Summer Lawns
(nautical) The stern of the underwater body of a ship from where it begins to curve upward and inward.
(mining) The horizontal distance to which a drift may be carried, either by licence 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.
A pair or set of millstones.
(speedrunning) Shortening of speedrun.

adj

In a liquid state; melted or molten.
Put some run butter on the vegetables.

Samples of the regular run butter were sealed in 1 pound tins and sent to Washington, where the butter was scored and examined. 1921, L. W. Ferris, H. W. Redfield, W. R. North, “The Volatile Acids and the Volatile Oxidizable Substances of Cream and Experimental Butter”, in Journal of Dairy Science, volume 4, page 522
Cast in a mould.
… the Sides are generally made of Holland's Tiles, or Plates of run Iron, ornamented variously as Fancy dictates, … 1735, Thomas Frankz, A tour through France, Flanders, and Germany: in a letter to Robert Savil, page 18

Vast quantities are cast in sand moulds, with that kind of run steel which is so largely used in the production of common table-knives and forks. 1833, The Cabinet Cyclopaedia: A treatise on the progressive improvement and present state of the Manufactures in Metal, volume 2, Iron and Steel (printed in London), page 314

For making tea I have a kettle, Besides a pan made of run metal; An old arm-chair, in which I sit well — The back is round. c. 1839, (Richard of Raindale, The Plan of my House vindicated, quoted by) T. T. B. in the Dwelling of Richard of Raindale, King of the Moors, published in The Mirror, number 966, 7 September 1839, page 153
Exhausted; depleted (especially with "down" or "out").
(of a zoology) Travelled, migrated; having made a migration or a spawning run.
The temperature of the water is consequently much higher than in either England or Scotland, and many newly run salmon will be found in early spring in the upper waters of Irish rivers where obstructions exist. 1889, Henry Cholmondeley-Pennell, Fishing: Salmon and Trout, fifth edition, page 185

It may be very much a metallic appearance as opposed to the silver freshness of a recently run salmon. 1986, Arthur Oglesby, Fly fishing for salmon and sea trout, page 15

Thus, on almost any day of the year, a fresh-run salmon may be caught legally somewhere in the British Isles. 2005, Rod Sutterby, Malcolm Greenhalgh, Atlantic Salmon: An Illustrated Natural History, page 86
Smuggled.
run brandy

verb

past participle of rin

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/run), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.