home run

home run
    n 1: a base hit on which the batter scores a run [syn: {homer},
         {home run}]
    2: something that exactly succeeds in achieving its goal; "the
       new advertising campaign was a bell ringer"; "scored a bull's
       eye"; "hit the mark"; "the president's speech was a home run"
       [syn: {bell ringer}, {bull's eye}, {mark}, {home run}]
    

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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Home run \Home" run`\, n. (Baseball)
   a complete circuit of the bases made by the batter without
   being put out and without an error on the play; also, the hit
   on which the batter makes such a circuit; a four-base hit.

   Note: Most home runs are made when the batter hits a fair
         ball out of the playing area on a fly, when the ball
         cannot be played by the defending team; if a batter
         circuits the bases while the ball is still inside the
         playing field, it is an {inside-the-park home run}.
         [PJC]