river runner

Noun

river runner (plural river runners)

1. (US) A raft, kayak, or similar watercraft used especially for traveling with the current of a river in a swift manner.
   • There are many ways to go down a whitewater river. . . . If you paddle a play boat, you will play. If you paddle a more stable river runner, you may play a little less or a little differently.2008, Gregory Shea, Robert E. Gunther, Your Job Survival Guide: A Manual for Thriving in Change, →ISBN, page 76
   • [C]heck out the Jackson Kayak Zen—it’s a full-on river runner but will still surf and flat spin nicely.2012 July 11, Dustin Urban, “Jackson Fun Runner Review”, in dustinurban.com, retrieved 19 Jan 2014
2. (US) A person who uses such a watercraft.
   • Books like WHITEWATER RAFTING by William McGinnis, go into great, and very necessary, detail to explain all of the hazards which the river runner may have to face and the proper procedures which should be followed to negotiate each of these.1980, Don Hubbard, The Complete Book of Inflatable Boats, →ISBN, page 164
   • "It's fabulous, spectacular, a little scary and sometimes a lot scary," John Williams, a Moab river runner for 30 years, said of the Cataract spring flood.1998 March 11, Christopher Smith, “Moab's Natives Struggle With an Overabundance of Wildlife”, in New York Times, retrieved 09 Jan 2014
3. (US) A recreational or commercial boat used for regular operation on a riverway.
   • In 1919, C.P. built a true work of art, a 26-foot mahogany river runner, with a stepped hull and an aft cockpit1997 Feb, Michael Verdon, “All-time-Classic”, in Motorboating & Sailing, volume 179, number 2, page 101
   • The boat, a flat-bottomed river-runner with a forty-horse jet, slides off Mac's trailer, onto crumbling shelf ice and into the river, green, translucent.1999, Ken Marsh, Breakfast at Trout's Place: The Seasons of an Alaska Flyfisher, →ISBN, page 16
4. (US) A person who is an experienced worker or traveler on a riverway.
   • [I]t was Captain Tod Halsey who had the responsibility of the whole thing. If the great marble shaft couldn't be dragged up the face of the bluff, the squint-eyed old river runner would be the loser.1940 Oct., A. Capwell Wyckoff, "River Bank Position," Boys' Life, p. 12 (Google preview)