run-down

See also: rundown and run down

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English run downdeverb.

English run-down

Deverbal from run down.

Adjective

run-down (comparative more run-down, superlative most run-down)

1. (of a person) Tired and exhausted.

   Synonyms: out of gas, weary; see also Thesaurus:fatigued

2. (of a place) Decrepit.

   Synonyms: dilapidated, worse for wear; see also Thesaurus:ramshackle

   • 1958 January, 'Borderer', “Ten Years of British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 12:

     The task was made trebly difficult, however, by the badly run-down condition in which the railways of Britain had been unavoidably left at the end of the war in 1945, […] .

   • 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page xiii, Preface:

     In the Seventies the system was run-down and demoralised. Road transport was the future, the Underground was being 'managed for decline', and the system was filthier than the streets above.

   • 2020 August 26, “Network News: Stations investment boosts regeneration, says report”, in Rail, page 17:

     Among its findings, the report says: "In recent years we have seen more stations transformed from run-down Victorian hulks, or spartan bus-sheltered platforms, into places that people can take pride in, feel comfortable in using, and which are fulfilling more of their wider potential.

3. (of a clockwork mechanism) Having the spring unwound.

Translations

of a person: tired and exhausted

• Czech: vyčerpaný (cs), utahaný
• Dutch: vermoeid (nl), afgeleefd (nl)
• German: heruntergekommen (de)

of a place: decrepit

• Dutch: bouwvallig (nl), uitgeleefd (nl)
• Esperanto: kaduka sg
• Finnish: ränsistynyt
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nedslitt

• Spanish: deteriorado (es) m, decrépito (es) m
• Swedish: nedgången (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Māori: pūwhāwhā
• Portuguese: decrépito (pt), caindo aos pedaços
• Swedish: nedgången (sv) (2)

Noun

run-down (plural run-downs)

1. Alternative form of rundown.
   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:

     Shepard: Give me a run-down of the damage.
     Avina: We have lost all primary power to the level. Environmental controls are not responding. Class three fires are burning in sectors 2, 3, 6 and 7. Civilian casualties are high.

Anagrams

• undrown