Definition of run

• - of Run
• p. p. - of Run
• a. - To move, proceed, advance, pass, go, come, etc., swiftly, smoothly, or with quick action; -- said of things animate or inanimate. Hence, to flow, glide, or roll onward, as a stream, a snake, a wagon, etc.; to move by quicker action than in walking, as a person, a horse, a dog.
• a. - To go swiftly; to pass at a swift pace; to hasten.
• a. - To flee, as from fear or danger.
• a. - To steal off; to depart secretly.
• a. - To contend in a race; hence, to enter into a contest; to become a candidate; as, to run for Congress.
• a. - To pass from one state or condition to another; to come into a certain condition; -- often with in or into; as, to run into evil practices; to run in debt.
• a. - To exert continuous activity; to proceed; as, to run through life; to run in a circle.
• a. - To pass or go quickly in thought or conversation; as, to run from one subject to another.
• a. - To discuss; to continue to think or speak about something; -- with on.
• a. - To make numerous drafts or demands for payment, as upon a bank; -- with on.
• a. - To creep, as serpents.
• a. - To flow, as a liquid; to ascend or descend; to course; as, rivers run to the sea; sap runs up in the spring; her blood ran cold.
• a. - To proceed along a surface; to extend; to spread.
• a. - To become fluid; to melt; to fuse.
• a. - To turn, as a wheel; to revolve on an axis or pivot; as, a wheel runs swiftly round.
• a. - To travel; to make progress; to be moved by mechanical means; to go; as, the steamboat runs regularly to Albany; the train runs to Chicago.
• a. - To extend; to reach; as, the road runs from Philadelphia to New York; the memory of man runneth not to the contrary.
• a. - To go back and forth from place to place; to ply; as, the stage runs between the hotel and the station.
• a. - To make progress; to proceed; to pass.
• a. - To continue in operation; to be kept in action or motion; as, this engine runs night and day; the mill runs six days in the week.
• a. - To have a course or direction; as, a line runs east and west.
• a. - To be in form thus, as a combination of words.
• a. - To be popularly known; to be generally received.
• a. - To have growth or development; as, boys and girls run up rapidly.
• a. - To tend, as to an effect or consequence; to incline.
• a. - To spread and blend together; to unite; as, colors run in washing.
• a. - To have a legal course; to be attached; to continue in force, effect, or operation; to follow; to go in company; as, certain covenants run with the land.
• a. - To continue without falling due; to hold good; as, a note has thirty days to run.
• a. - To discharge pus or other matter; as, an ulcer runs.
• a. - To be played on the stage a number of successive days or nights; as, the piece ran for six months.
• a. - To sail before the wind, in distinction from reaching or sailing closehauled; -- said of vessels.
• a. - Specifically, of a horse: To move rapidly in a gait in which each leg acts in turn as a propeller and a supporter, and in which for an instant all the limbs are gathered in the air under the body.
• a. - To move rapidly by springing steps so that there is an instant in each step when neither foot touches the ground; -- so distinguished from walking in athletic competition.
• v. t. - To cause to run (in the various senses of Run, v. i.); as, to run a horse; to run a stage; to run a machine; to run a rope through a block.
• v. i. - To pursue in thought; to carry in contemplation.
• v. i. - To cause to enter; to thrust; as, to run a sword into or through the body; to run a nail into the foot.
• v. i. - To drive or force; to cause, or permit, to be driven.
• v. i. - To fuse; to shape; to mold; to cast; as, to run bullets, and the like.
• v. i. - To cause to be drawn; to mark out; to indicate; to determine; as, to run a line.
• v. i. - To cause to pass, or evade, offical restrictions; to smuggle; -- said of contraband or dutiable goods.
• v. i. - To go through or accomplish by running; as, to run a race; to run a certain career.
• v. i. - To cause to stand as a candidate for office; to support for office; as, to run some one for Congress.
• v. i. - To encounter or incur, as a danger or risk; as, to run the risk of losing one's life. See To run the chances, below.
• v. i. - To put at hazard; to venture; to risk.
• v. i. - To discharge; to emit; to give forth copiously; to be bathed with; as, the pipe or faucet runs hot water.
• v. i. - To be charged with, or to contain much of, while flowing; as, the rivers ran blood.
• v. i. - To conduct; to manage; to carry on; as, to run a factory or a hotel.
• v. i. - To tease with sarcasms and ridicule.
• v. i. - To sew, as 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.
• v. i. - To migrate or move in schools; -- said of fish; esp., to ascend a river in order to spawn.
• n. - The act of running; as, a long run; a good run; a quick run; to go on the run.
• n. - A small stream; a brook; a creek.
• n. - That which runs or flows in the course of a certain operation, or during a certain time; as, a run of must in wine making; the first run of sap in a maple orchard.
• n. - A course; a series; that which continues in a certain course or series; as, a run of good or bad luck.
• n. - State of being current; currency; popularity.
• n. - Continued repetition on the stage; -- said of a play; as, to have a run of a hundred successive nights.
• n. - A continuing urgent demand; especially, a pressure on a bank or treasury for payment of its notes.
• n. - A range or extent of ground for feeding stock; as, a sheep run.
• n. - The aftermost part of a vessel's hull where it narrows toward the stern, under the quarter.
• n. - The distance sailed by a ship; as, a good run; a run of fifty miles.
• n. - A voyage; as, a run to China.
• n. - A pleasure excursion; a trip.
• n. - The horizontal distance to which a drift may be carried, either by license 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.
• n. - A roulade, or series of running tones.
• n. - The greatest degree of swiftness in marching. It is executed upon the same principles as the double-quick, but with greater speed.
• n. - The act of migrating, or ascending a river to spawn; -- said of fish; also, an assemblage or school of fishes which migrate, or ascend a river for the purpose of spawning.
• n. - In baseball, a complete circuit of the bases made by a player, which enables him to score one; in cricket, a passing from one wicket to the other, by which one point is scored; as, a player made three runs; the side went out with two hundred runs.
• n. - A pair or set of millstones.
• a. - Melted, or made from molten material; cast in a mold; as, run butter; run iron or lead.
• a. - Smuggled; as, run goods.