running

Etymology

verb

1. present participle and gerund of run

adj

1. Moving or advancing at a run.
   1. Of a horse, having a running gait; not a trotter or pacer.
2. Present, current.
   running month
3. Flowing; easy; cursive.
   running handwriting
4. Continuous; ongoing; keeping along step by step.
   a running commentary, a running explanation
   Thus a constant running fire was kept up, and no interval allowed for the enemy to stand to their guns in safety […] 1778, John Hamilton Moore, A New and Complete Collection of Voyages and Travels
   What are art and science if not a running commentary on Nature?
5. Having a continuous design or pattern.
   running bond; running ornament
6. Consecutive (much more commonly expressed by an adverb; see below).
   He won the title for three running years.
7. (botany) Extending by a slender climbing or trailing stem.
   a running vine
8. (medicine) Discharging pus.
   a running sore
9. (medicine, of a nose) Discharging snot or mucus.
   a running nose

adv

1. (informal) Consecutively; in a row.
   Mom's strawberry jam won the blue ribbon at the Holland County Fair three years running.

noun

1. The action of the verb to run.
   His running of the business leaves something to be desired.
   The train operating company owning group warned in early December that it was unable to publish its results for the year to July 3 2021, following an investigation into the running of Southeastern, which was stripped of its franchise in October …. January 12 2022, “Network News: Trading of Go-Ahead Group shares halted”, in RAIL, number 948, page 7
2. The activity of running as a form of exercise, as a sport, or for any other reason.
   Running is good exercise.
3. That which runs or flows; the quantity of a liquid which flows in a certain time or during a certain operation.
   the first running of a still
4. The discharge from an ulcer or other sore.
5. (colloquial) The act of running errands.
   I'm gonna go out and do my running.

prep

1. (colloquial) Approaching; about; roughly.