catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  Run \Run\, v. i. [imp. Ranor Run; p. p. Run; p. pr. & vb.
     n. Running.] [OE. rinnen, rennen (imp. ran, p. p. runnen,
     ronnen). AS. rinnan to flow (imp. ran, p. p. gerunnen), and
     iernan, irnan, to run (imp. orn, arn, earn, p. p. urnen);
     akin to D. runnen, rennen, OS. & OHG. rinnan, G. rinnen,
     rennen, Icel. renna, rinna, Sw. rinna, r["a]nna, Dan. rinde,
     rende, Goth. rinnan, and perh. to L. oriri to rise, Gr. ? to
     stir up, rouse, Skr. ? (cf. Origin), or perh. to L. rivus
     brook (cf. Rival). [root]11. Cf. Ember, a., Rennet.]
     1. 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.
        Specifically:
  
     2. Of voluntary or personal action:
        (a) To go swiftly; to pass at a swift pace; to hasten.
  
                  ``Ha, ha, the fox!'' and after him they ran.
                                                    --Chaucer.
        (b) To flee, as from fear or danger.
  
                  As from a bear a man would run for life. --Shak.
        (c) To steal off; to depart secretly.
  
                  My conscience will serve me to run from this
                  jew.                              --Shak.
        (d) To contend in a race; hence, to enter into a contest;
            to become a candidate; as, to run for Congress.
  
                  Know ye not that they which run in a race run
                  all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that
                  ye may obtain.                    --1 Cor. ix.
                                                    24.
        (e) 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.
  
                  Have I not cause to rave and beat my breast, to
                  rend my heart with grief and run distracted?
                                                    --Addison.
        (f) To exert continuous activity; to proceed; as, to run
            through life; to run in a circle.
        (g) To pass or go quickly in thought or conversation; as,
            to run from one subject to another.
  
                  Virgil, in his first Georgic, has run into a set
                  of precepts foreign to his subject. --Addison.
        (h) To discuss; to continue to think or speak about
            something; -- with on.
        (i) To make numerous drafts or demands for payment, as
            upon a bank; -- with on.
        (j) To creep, as serpents.
  
     3. Of involuntary motion:
        (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.
        (b) To proceed along a surface; to extend; to spread.
  
                  The fire ran along upon the ground. --Ex. ix.
                                                    23.
        (c) To become fluid; to melt; to fuse.
  
                  As wax dissolves, as ice begins to run.
                                                    --Addison.
  
                  Sussex iron ores run freely in the fire.
                                                    --Woodward.
        (d) To turn, as a wheel; to revolve on an axis or pivot;
            as, a wheel runs swiftly round.
        (e) 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.
        (f) To extend; to reach; as, the road runs from
            Philadelphia to New York; the memory of man runneth
            not to the contrary.
  
                  She saw with joy the line immortal run, Each
                  sire impressed, and glaring in his son. --Pope.
        (g) To go back and forth from place to place; to ply; as,
            the stage runs between the hotel and the station.

  Running \Run"ning\, a.
     1. Moving or advancing by running. Specifically, of a horse;
        (a) Having a running gait; not a trotter or pacer.
        (b) trained and kept for running races; as, a running
            horse. --Law.
  
     2. Successive; one following the other without break or
        intervention; -- said of periods of time; as, to be away
        two days running; to sow land two years running.
  
     3. Flowing; easy; cursive; as, a running hand.
  
     4. Continuous; keeping along step by step; as, he stated the
        facts with a running explanation. ``A running conquest.''
        --Milton.
  
              What are art and science if not a running commentary
              on Nature?                            --Hare.
  
     5. (Bot.) Extending by a slender climbing or trailing stem;
        as, a running vine.
  
     6. (Med.) Discharging pus; as, a running sore.
  
     Running block (Mech.), a block in an arrangement of pulleys
        which rises or sinks with the weight which is raised or
        lowered.
  
     Running board, a narrow platform extending along the side
        of a locomotive.

  Running \Run"ning\, n.
     The act of one who, or of that which runs; as, the running
     was slow.
  
     2. That which runs or flows; the quantity of a liquid which
        flows in a certain time or during a certain operation; as,
        the first running of a still.
  
     3. The discharge from an ulcer or other sore.
  
     At long running, in the long run. [Obs.] --Jer. Taylor.