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Verb: run (ran,run,running)  rún
  1. Move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
    "Don't run--you'll be out of breath"; "The children ran to the store"
     
  2. Flee; take to one's heels; cut and run
    "If you see this man, run!";
    - scat [informal], scarper [Brit, informal], turn tail [informal], lam [N. Amer, informal], run away, hightail it [N. Amer, informal], bunk [informal], head for the hills [informal], take to the woods [informal], escape, fly the coop [informal], break away, leg it [Brit, informal]
     
  3. Cover by running; run a certain distance
    "She ran 10 miles that day"
     
  4. Perform as expected when applied
    "Does this old car still run well?";
    - function, work, operate, go
     
  5. Be operating, running or functioning
    "The car is still running--turn it off!"
     
  6. Carry out a process or program, as on a computer or a machine
    "Run the dishwasher"; "run a new program on the Mac";
    - execute
     
  7. Stretch out over a distance, space, time, or scope; run or extend between two points or beyond a certain point
    "Service runs all the way to Cranbury";
    - go, pass, lead, extend
     
  8. Direct or control (projects, businesses, etc.)
    "She is running a relief operation in the Sudan";
    - operate
     
  9. Have a particular form
    "the story or argument runs as follows";
    - go
     
  10. Move along, of liquids
    "Water ran into the cave";
    - flow, feed, course
     
  11. Change or be different within limits
    "Interest rates run from 5 to 10 percent";
    - range
     
  12. Stand or compete for an office or a position
    "Who's running for treasurer this year?";
    - campaign
     
  13. Cause to emit recorded audio or video
    "They ran the tapes over and over again";
    - play
     
  14. Move about freely and without restraint, or act as if running around in an uncontrolled way
    "who are these people running around in the building?"; "She runs around telling everyone of her troubles"; "let the dogs run free"
     
  15. Have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined
    "These dresses run small";
    - tend, be given, lean, incline
     
  16. Change from one state to another
    "run amok"; "run rogue"; "run riot"
     
  17. Cause to perform
    "run a subject"; "run a process"
     
  18. Be affected by; be subjected to
    "run a temperature"; "run a risk"
     
  19. Continue to exist
    "These stories run";
    - prevail, persist, die hard, endure
     
  20. Occur persistently
    "Musical talent runs in the family"
     
  21. Include as the content; broadcast or publicize
    "We ran the ad three times";
    - carry
     
  22. Conduct to completion
    "run an errand"
     
  23. Pass over, across, or through
    "He ran his eyes over her body"; "She ran her fingers along the carved figurine";
    - guide, draw, pass
     
  24. Cause something to lie along a particular path
    "Run the wire behind the cabinet";
    - lead
     
  25. Cause an animal to move fast
    "run the dogs"
     
  26. Sail before the wind
     
  27. Extend or continue for a certain period of time
    "The film runs 5 hours";
    - run for
     
  28. Set animals loose to graze
     
  29. Keep company
    "the heifers run with the bulls to produce offspring";
    - consort
     
  30. Travel rapidly, by any (unspecified) means
    "Run to the store!"; "She always runs to Italy, because she has a lover there";
    - nip [Brit, informal]
     
  31. Travel a route regularly
    "Ships run the waters near the coast";
    - ply
     
  32. Compete in a race
    "he is running the Marathon this year";
    - race
     
  33. Progress by being changed
    "run through your presentation before the meeting";
    - move, go
     
  34. Reduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state, usually by heating
    - melt, melt down
     
  35. Come unraveled or undone as if by snagging
    "Her nylons were running";
    - ladder [Brit]
     
  36. Become undone
    "the sweater ran";
    - unravel
     
  37. Pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals)
    "The dogs are running deer";
    - hunt, hunt down, track down
     
  38. Be diffused
    "These dyes and colours are guaranteed not to run";
    - bleed
     
  39. (sport) run with the ball; in such sports as football
     
  40. (sport) make without a miss
     
  41. (crime) deal in illegally, such as arms or liquor
    - black market
Noun: run  rún
  1. The act of running; travelling on foot at a fast pace
    "he broke into a run"; "his daily run keeps him fit";
    - running
     
  2. The act of testing something
    "in the experimental runs the amount of carbon was measured separately";
    - test, trial
     
  3. A race run on foot
    "she broke the record for the half-mile run";
    - footrace, foot race
     
  4. An unbroken series of events
    "Nicklaus had a run of birdies";
    - streak
     
  5. A regular trip
    "the ship made its run in record time"
     
  6. The continuous period of time during which something (a machine or a factory) operates or continues in operation
    "the assembly line was on a 12-hour run"
     
  7. Unrestricted freedom to use
    "he has the run of the house"
     
  8. The production achieved during a continuous period of operation (of a machine or factory etc.)
    "a daily run of 100,000 gallons of paint"
     
  9. A small stream
    - rivulet, rill, runnel, streamlet
     
  10. A race between candidates for elective office
    "he is raising money for a Senate run";
    - political campaign, campaign
     
  11. A row of unravelled stitches
    "she got a run in her stocking";
    - ladder, ravel
     
  12. The pouring forth of a fluid
    - discharge, outpouring
     
  13. An unbroken chronological sequence
    "the play had a long run on Broadway"; "the team enjoyed a brief run of victories"
     
  14. A short trip
    "take a run into town";
    - sortie
     
  15. (baseball) a score in baseball made by a runner touching all four bases safely
    "the Yankees scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th";
    - tally
     
  16. (cricket) a scoring unit corresponding to the batsmen running between the wickets
     
  17. (American football) a play in which a player attempts to carry the ball through or past the opposing team
    "the defensive line braced to stop the run";
    - running, running play, running game

Derived forms: run, ran, running, runs

See also: cavort, overrun, run along

Type of: accompany, accomplish, action, apply, attempt, barrel [informal], be, become, belt [informal], belt along [informal], break, break up, bring home the bacon [informal], broadcast, bucket [informal], bucket along [informal], capture, carry out, carry through, catch, change, chronological sequence, chronological succession, circularise [Brit], circularize, circulate, come apart, come through, come up trumps [Brit, informal], compete, contend, continue, damage, deliver the goods, diffuse, direct, disintegrate, disperse, displace, disseminate, dissolve, distribute, effort, endeavor [US], endeavour [Brit, Cdn], endure, enforce, execute, fall apart, fan out, flow, flowing, football play, free, fulfil [Brit, Cdn], fulfill [N. Amer], get, go, go away, go forth, harm, hasten, hie [archaic], hotfoot, hurry, impairment, implement, incur, indefinite quantity, jaunt, last, leave, liberate, liberty, locomote, locomotion, loose, make pass, merchandise, merchandize, move, occur, off [informal], pass, pass around, pelt [informal], pelt along [informal], period, period of time, process, propagate, race, release, resolve, rocket [informal], rush, rush along, sail, score, separate, sequence, speed, split up, spread, spread out, step on it [informal], stream, succeed, succession, successiveness, time period, time span, trade, travel, travel rapidly, treat, trip, try, turn up trumps [Brit, informal], unloose, unloosen, vie, watercourse, whizz [informal], whizz along [informal], win, wing [informal], zip [informal], zoom, zoom along

Antonym: idle

Encyclopedia: Run, Rudolph, Run