run

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See also: rún, rùn, Rún, and rǔn

English[edit]

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Alternate forms[edit]

  • rin (dialectal)

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English ronnen ‎(“to run”), alteration (due to the past participle 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 *ren- ‎(“to rise; to sink”). Cognate with Scots rin ‎(“to run”), West Frisian rinne ‎(“to walk, march”), Dutch rennen ‎(“to run, race”), German rennen ‎(“to run”), rinnen ‎(“to flow”), Danish rende ‎(“to run”), and Swedish rinna ‎(“to run”), Icelandic renna ‎(“to flow”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian rend ‎(“to run, run after”). See random.

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

a runner running (sense 1)
Women running (sense 1) in a 100-meter foot race

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

  1. (vertebrates) 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!‎
    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. (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.  Can you run these data through the program for me and tell me whether it gives an error?‎
    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. (intransitive) Of fish, to migrate for spawning.
    6. (intransitive, soccer) To carry a football down the field.
    7. (transitive) To achieve or perform by running or as if by running.
      The horse ran a great race.  He is running an expensive campaign.‎
    8. (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.‎
    9. (transitive, juggling, colloquial) To juggle a pattern continuously, as opposed to starting and stopping quickly.
  2. (fluids) To flow.
    1. (intransitive, figuratively) To move or spread quickly.
      There's a strange story running around the neighborhood.  The flu is running through my daughter's kindergarten.‎
    2. (intransitive) Of a liquid, to flow.
      The river runs through the forest.  There's blood running down your leg.‎
    3. (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.‎
    4. (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.‎
    5. (intransitive) To become liquid; to melt.
    6. (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.‎
    7. To fuse; to shape; to mould; to cast.
      to run bullets‎
      • Henry Felton (1679-1740)
        The fairest diamonds are rough till they are polished, and the purest gold must be run and washed, and sifted in the ore.
    8. (figuratively, transitive) To go through without stopping, usually illegally.
      run a red light or stop sign;  run a blockade‎
  3. (nautical, of a vessel) To sail before the wind, in distinction from reaching or sailing close-hauled.
  4. (social) To carry out an activity.
    1. (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.‎
      • 1972 December 29, Richard Schickel, “Masterpieces underrated and overlooked”, in Life, volume 73, number 25, page 22:
        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.
      • 2013 May 11, “What a waste”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8835, page 12:
        India is run by gerontocrats and epigones: grey hairs and groomed heirs.
    2. (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.‎
    3. (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.‎
    4. To exert continuous activity; to proceed.
      to run through life;  to run in a circle‎
    5. (intransitive) To be presented 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.‎
    6. (transitive) To print or broadcast in the media.
      run a story;  run an ad‎
    7. (transitive) To transport someone or something.
      Could you run me over to the store?  Please run this report upstairs to director's office.‎
    8. (transitive) To smuggle illegal goods.
      to run guns;  to run rum‎
      • Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
        Heavy impositions […] are a strong temptation of running goods.
    9. (transitive, agriculture) To sort through a large volume of produce in quality control.
      Looks like we're gonna have to run the tomatoes again.‎
  5. 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.‎
  6. (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.‎
  7. To pass or go quickly in thought or conversation.
    to run from one subject to another‎
    • Joseph Addison (1672-1719)
      Virgil, in his first Georgic, has run into a set of precepts foreign to his subject.
  8. (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.‎
    • Joseph Addison (1672-1719)
      Have I not cause to rave and beat my breast, to rend my heart with grief and run distracted?
    • 1968, Paul Simon, The Boxer (song)
      I was no more than a boy / In the company of strangers / In the quiet of the railway station / Running scared.
  9. (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.‎
  10. (intransitive) Of stitches or stitched clothing, to unravel.
    My stocking is running.‎
  11. To pursue in thought; to carry in contemplation.
    • Robert South (1634–1716)
      to run the world back to its first original
    • Arthur Collier (1680-1732)
      I would gladly understand the formation of a soul, and run it up to its punctum saliens.
  12. To cause to enter; to thrust.
    to run a sword into or through the body;  to run a nail into one's foot‎
    • Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)
      You run your head into the lion's mouth.
    • Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
      having run his fingers through his hair
    • 1977, Agatha Christie, An Autobiography, Part II, chapter4:
      There was also hairdressing: hairdressing, too, really was hairdressing in those times — no running a comb through it and that was that. It was curled, frizzed, waved, put in curlers overnight, waved with hot tongs; […].
  13. To drive or force; to cause, or permit, to be driven.
    • Bible, Acts xxvii. 41
      They ran the ship aground.
    • John Ray (1627-1705)
      A talkative person runs himself upon great inconveniences by blabbing out his own or other's secrets.
    • John Locke (1632-1705)
      Others, accustomed to retired speculations, run natural philosophy into metaphysical notions.
  14. To cause to be drawn; to mark out; to indicate; to determine.
    to run a line‎
  15. To encounter or incur (a danger or risk).
    to run the risk of losing one's life‎
  16. To put at hazard; to venture; to risk.
    • Earl of Clarendon (1609-1674)
      He would himself be in the Highlands to receive them, and run his fortune with them.
  17. To tease with sarcasms and ridicule.
  18. 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.
  19. To control or have precedence in a card game.
    Every three or four hands he would run the table.‎
  20. To be in form thus, as a combination of words.
    • Robert Sanderson (1587-1663)
      The king's ordinary style runneth, "Our sovereign lord the king."
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:
      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.”
  21. (archaic) To be popularly known; to be generally received.
    • William Temple (1628–1699)
      Men gave them their own names, by which they run a great while in Rome.
    • Richard Knolles (1545-1610)
      Neither was he ignorant what report ran of himself.
  22. To have growth or development.
    Boys and girls run up rapidly.‎
    • John Mortimer (1656?-1736)
      if the richness of the ground cause turnips to run to leaves
  23. To tend, as to an effect or consequence; to incline.
    • Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
      A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds.
    • Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
      Temperate climates run into moderate governments.
  24. 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.‎
    • Sir Josiah Child (1630-1699)
      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.
  25. (golf) To strike (the ball) in such a way as to cause it to run along the ground, as when approaching a hole.
  26. (video games, rare) To speedrun.

Synonyms[edit]

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. Use the template {{sense|"gloss"}}, substituting a short version of the definition for "gloss".

Derived terms[edit]

phrasal verbs
single words and compounds
multiple words
idioms

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

to smuggle illegal goods — see smuggle

Noun[edit]

diagram of stairs, showing the run
Stockings with a run (line of stitches that has come undone) in them

run ‎(plural runs)

  1. Act or instance of running, of moving rapidly using the feet.
    I just got back from my morning run.
    • 2012 June 9, Owen Phillips, “Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport[1]:
      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.
  2. Act or instance of hurrying (to or from a place) (not necessarily by foot); dash or errand, trip.
    • 1759, N. Tindal, The Continuation of Mr Rapin's History of England, volume 21 (continuation volume 9), page 92:
      […] 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 […]
    I need to make a run to the store.
  3. A pleasure trip.
    Let's go for a run in the car.
    • Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit
      And I think of giving her a run in London for a change.
  4. Flight, instance or period of fleeing.
    • 2006, Tsirk Susej, The Demonic Bible (ISBN 1411690737), page 41:
      During his run from the police, he claimed to have a metaphysical experience which can only be described as “having passed through an abyss.”
  5. Migration (of fish).
  6. A group of fish that migrate, or ascend a river for the purpose of spawning.
  7. (skiing, bobsledding) A single trip down a hill, as in skiing and bobsledding.
  8. A (regular) trip or route.
    The bus on the Cherry Street run is always crowded.
  9. The route taken while running or skiing.
    Which run did you do today?
  10. The distance sailed by a ship.
    a good run; a run of fifty miles
    • 1977, Star Wars (film)
      You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon? It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.
  11. A voyage.
    a run to China
  12. An enclosure for an animal; a track or path along which something can travel.
    He set up a rabbit run.
  13. (Australia, New Zealand) Rural landholding for farming, usually for running sheep, and operated by a runholder.
  14. State of being current; currency; popularity.
    • Addison
      It is impossible for detached papers to have a general run, or long continuance, if not diversified with humour.
  15. 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.
    • Burke
      They who made their arrangements in the first run of misadventure […] put a seal on their calamities.
    • 2011 June 28, Piers Newbery, “Wimbledon 2011: Sabine Lisicki beats Marion Bartoli”, in BBC Sport[2]:
      German wildcard Sabine Lisicki conquered her nerves to defeat France's Marion Bartoli and take her amazing Wimbledon run into the semi-finals.
    1. A series of tries in a game that were successful.
  16. (card games) A sequence of cards in a suit in a card game.
  17. (music) A rapid passage in music, especially along a scale.
  18. A trial.
    The data got lost, so I'll have to perform another run of the experiment.
  19. 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
  20. (chiefly eastern Midland US, chiefly 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".
  21. 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.
  22. The length of a 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.
    • Macaulay
      A canting, mawkish play […] had an immense run.
  23. A quick pace, faster than a walk.
    He broke into a run.
    1. (of horses) A fast gallop.
  24. 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.
  25. Any sudden large demand for something.
    There was a run on Christmas presents.
  26. The top of a step on a staircase, also called a tread, as opposed to the rise.
  27. The horizontal length of a set of stairs
  28. A standard or unexceptional group or category.
    He stood out from the usual run of applicants.
  29. (baseball) A score (point scored) by a runner making it around all the bases and over home plate.
  30. (cricket) A point scored.
  31. (American football) A gain of a (specified) distance; a running play.
    […] one of the greatest runs of all time.
    • 2003, Jack Seibold, Spartan Sports Encyclopedia, page 592:
      Aaron Roberts added an insurance touchdown on a one-yard run.
  32. (Can we clean up(+) this sense?) Unrestricted use of.
    He can have the run of the house.
  33. A line of knit stitches that have unravelled, particularly in a nylon stocking.
    I have a run in my stocking.
  34. (nautical) The stern of the underwater body of a ship from where it begins to curve upward and inward.
  35. (construction) Horizontal dimension of a slope.
  36. (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.
  37. A pair or set of millstones.
  38. (video games) A playthrough.
    This was my first successful run without losing any health.
  39. (slang) A period of extended (usually daily) drug use.
    • 1964 : Heroin by The Velvet Underground
      And I'll tell ya, things aren't quite the same / When I'm rushing on my run.
    • 1975, Lloyd Y. Young, Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, Brian S. Katcher, Applied Therapeutics for Clinical Pharmacists
      Frank Fixwell, a 25 year-old male, has been on a heroin "run" (daily use) for the past two years.
    • 1977, Richard P. Rettig, Manual J. Torres, Gerald R. Garrett, Manny: a criminal-addict's story, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) (ISBN 9780395248386)
      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.
    • 2001, Robin J. Harman, Handbook of Pharmacy Health Education, Pharmaceutical Press (ISBN 9780853694717), page 172
      This can develop quite quickly (over a matter of hours) during a cocaine run or when cocaine use becomes a daily habit.
    • 2010, Robert DuPont, The Selfish Brain: Learning from Addiction, Hazelden Publishing (ISBN 9781592859535), page 158
      DA depletion leads to the crash that characteristically ends a cocaine run.
  40. (golf) The movement communicated to a golf ball by running it.
  41. (golf) The distance a ball travels after touching the ground from a stroke.
  42. (video games, rare) A speedrun.

Synonyms[edit]

Antonyms[edit]

  • (horizontal part of a step): rise, riser
  • (horizontal distance of a set of stairs): rise

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from run

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

See also[edit]

Adjective[edit]

run ‎(not comparable)

  1. In a liquid state; melted or molten.
    Put some run butter on the vegetables.
    • 1921, L. W. Ferris, H. W. Redfield and W. R. North, The Volatile Acids and the Volatile Oxidizable Substances of Cream and Experimental Butter, in the Journal of Dairy Science, volume 4 (1921), page 522:
      Samples of the regular run butter were sealed in 1 pound tins and sent to Washington, where the butter was scored and examined.
  2. Cast in a mould.
    • 1735, Thomas Frankz, A tour through France, Flanders, and Germany: in a letter to Robert Savil, page 18:
      […] the Sides are generally made of Holland's Tiles, or Plates of run Iron, ornamented variously as Fancy dictates, […]
    • 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:
      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.
    • 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:
      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.
  3. Exhausted; depleted (especially with "down" or "out").
  4. (of a fish) Travelled, migrated; having made a migration or a spawning run.
    • 1889, Henry Cholmondeley-Pennell, Fishing: Salmon and Trout, fifth edition, page 185:
      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.
    • 1986, Arthur Oglesby, Fly fishing for salmon and sea trout, page 15:
      It may be very much a metallic appearance as opposed to the silver freshness of a recently run salmon.
    • 2005, Rod Sutterby, Malcolm Greenhalgh, Atlantic Salmon: An Illustrated Natural History, page 86:
      Thus, on almost any day of the year, a fresh-run salmon may be caught legally somewhere in the British Isles.

Statistics[edit]

Most common English words before 1923: daughter · makes · laws · #539: run · position · copy · opened

Anagrams[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

run

  1. first-person singular present indicative of runnen
  2. imperative of runnen

Gothic[edit]

Romanization[edit]

run

  1. Romanization of 𐍂𐌿𐌽

Lojban[edit]

Rafsi[edit]

run

  1. rafsi of rutni.

Mandarin[edit]

Romanization[edit]

run

  1. Nonstandard spelling of rún.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of rùn.

Usage notes[edit]

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

Norman[edit]

Etymology[edit]

EB1911 - Volume 01 - Page 001 - 1.svg This entry lacks etymological information. If you are familiar with the origin of this term, please add it to the page per etymology instructions. You can also discuss it at the Etymology Scriptorium.

Noun[edit]

run m ‎(plural runs)

  1. (nautical) beam (of a ship)

Old English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

rūn f ‎(nominative plural rūna or rūne)

  1. mystery, secret
    rune healdan (to keep one's counsel)
  2. advice, counsel
  3. writing; a rune

Descendants[edit]

See also[edit]

Polish[edit]

Noun[edit]

run

  1. Genitive plural of runo.
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