from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Run \Run\, n.
1. The act of running; as, a long run; a good run; a quick
run; to go on the run.
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2. A small stream; a brook; a creek.
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3. 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.
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4. A course; a series; that which continues in a certain
course or series; as, a run of good or bad luck.
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They who made their arrangements in the first run of
misadventure . . . put a seal on their calamities.
--Burke.
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5. State of being current; currency; popularity.
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It is impossible for detached papers to have a
general run, or long continuance, if not diversified
with humor. --Addison.
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6. Continued repetition on the stage; -- said of a play; as,
to have a run of a hundred successive nights.
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A canting, mawkish play . . . had an immense run.
--Macaulay.
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7. A continuing urgent demand; especially, a pressure on a
bank or treasury for payment of its notes.
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8. A range or extent of ground for feeding stock; as, a sheep
run. --Howitt.
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9. (Naut.)
(a) The aftermost part of a vessel's hull where it narrows
toward the stern, under the quarter.
(b) The distance sailed by a ship; as, a good run; a run
of fifty miles.
(c) A voyage; as, a run to China.
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10. A pleasure excursion; a trip. [Colloq.]
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I think of giving her a run in London. --Dickens.
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11. (Mining) 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.
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12. (Mus.) A roulade, or series of running tones.
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13. (Mil.) The greatest degree of swiftness in marching. It
is executed upon the same principles as the double-quick,
but with greater speed.
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14. 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.
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15. (Sport) In baseball, a complete circuit of the bases made
by a player, which enables him to score one point; also,
the point thus scored; 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; the Yankees scored three runs in the
seventh inning.
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The "runs" are made from wicket to wicket, the
batsmen interchanging ends at each run. --R. A.
Proctor.
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16. A pair or set of millstones.
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17. (Piquet, Cribbage, etc.) A number of cards of the same
suit in sequence; as, a run of four in hearts.
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18. (Golf)
(a) The movement communicated to a golf ball by running.
(b) The distance a ball travels after touching the ground
from a stroke.
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{At the long run}, now, commonly, {In the long run}, in or
during the whole process or course of things taken
together; in the final result; in the end; finally.
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[Man] starts the inferior of the brute animals, but
he surpasses them in the long run. --J. H.
Newman.
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{Home run}.
(a) A running or returning toward home, or to the point
from which the start was made. Cf. {Home stretch}.
(b) (Baseball) See under {Home}.
{The run}, or {The common run}, or {The run of the mill}
etc., ordinary persons; the generality or average of
people or things; also, that which ordinarily occurs;
ordinary current, course, or kind.
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I saw nothing else that is superior to the common
run of parks. --Walpole.
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Burns never dreamed of looking down on others as
beneath him, merely because he was conscious of his
own vast superiority to the common run of men.
--Prof.
Wilson.
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His whole appearance was something out of the common
run. --W. Irving.
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{To let go by the run} (Naut.), to loosen and let run freely,
as lines; to let fall without restraint, as a sail.
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