Word.ws English Dictionary

run

UK/ɹʌn/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Ireland/ɹʊn/

run verb: to move forward quickly upon two feet by alternately making a short jump off either foot. Also the past participle of rin.

run: to move forward quickly upon two feet by alternately making a short jump off either foot
Image: ms4denmark, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb

run (third-person singular simple present runs, present participle running, simple past ran, past participle run or (nonstandard, colloquial) ran)

  1. (intransitive) To move forward quickly upon two feet by alternately making a short jump off either foot.
    • Run, and you might still catch the train!
    • Through the open front door ran Jessamy, down the steps to where Kitto was sitting at the bottom with the pram beside him.1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 122
  2. (intransitive) To go at a fast pace; to move quickly.
    • I have been running all over the building looking for him.
    • Sorry, I've got to run; my house is on fire!
  3. (transitive) To cover (a course or a distance) by running.
    • I can run a mile, but I can't run the cross-country course.
  4. (transitive) To complete a running course or event in (a given time).
    • I was hoping to make the team, but I didn't run the qualifying time.
  5. (intransitive) To move briskly or smoothly with a motion of sliding, rolling, sweeping etc.
    • The shuttle runs back and forth on these rollers.
    • As its name suggests, the monorail runs on a single rail.
  6. (transitive) To cause to move quickly or lightly.
    • Every day I run my dog across the field and back.
    • I'll just run the vacuum cleaner over the carpet.
  7. (intransitive, transitive) To compete in a race.
    • The horse will run in the Preakness next year.
    • I'm not ready to run a marathon.
  8. (transitive) To transport (someone or something), notionally at a brisk pace.
    • Could you run me over to the store?
    • Please run this report upstairs to director's office.
  9. (intransitive, transitive) Of a means of transportation: to travel (a route).
    • The bus (train, plane, ferry boat, etc) runs between Newport and Riverside.
    • Small planes run between Alor and Langkawi. BUS: Express busses leave the bus terminal on the corner of Jl. Langgar and Jl. Stesyen for K. Kedah, […]1997, Karl-Heinz Reger, Nelles Verlag Staff, Malaysia - Singapore - Brunei, Hunter Publishing, Inc, →ISBN, page 91
  10. (transitive) To cause (a vehicle) to travel a route.
    • This year, NJ Transit allowed nonmotorists […] to reach the event by running special trains every 2 hours 4 round trips). The location was the old Lackawanna Railroad freight house, about a 10-minute walk from the Boonton Station, which normally has service only during peak-commuting hours on...2024 11, David Peter Alan, “NJ Transit Runs Special Trains to “Railroad Museum [for a day]””, in Lackawanna Coalition Railgram
  11. (transitive) To transit (a length of a river), as in whitewater rafting.
    • To put it frankly, if you people had to hire others to run the river and survey it for you, if, in short, you can't even run it yourself, why do think you can decide who is and who is not competent? River running, as has been[…]1979, United States. Forest Service. Rocky Mountain Region, Piedra River: Final Environmental Impact Statement & Wild & Scenic River Study, page 74
  12. (intransitive) Of fish, to migrate for spawning.
Show 52 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. (intransitive, transitive) To carry (a football) down the field, as opposed to passing or kicking.
    • Then, on their second possession, Isaiah Ford ran for 11 yards after abandoning a flea flicker. [...] The Patriots ran the ball just 27 times despite averaging 5 yards per carry.2019 December 29, Chad Finn, “24 thoughts on the Patriots’ loss to the Dolphins”, in Boston Globe
  2. (intransitive) To flee from a danger or towards help.
    • Whenever things get tough, she cuts and runs.
    • When he's broke, he runs to me for money.
  3. (figuratively, transitive) To pass (without stopping), typically a stop signal, stop sign, or duty to yield the right of way.
    • The car in front just ran a red light.
    • If you have a collision with a vehicle oncoming from the right, after having run priority to the right, you are at fault.
  4. (colloquial, transitive) To juggle a pattern continuously, as opposed to starting and stopping quickly.
  5. (intransitive) Of a liquid or electric current, to flow.
    • The river runs through the forest into the North Sea.
    • There's blood running down your leg.
  6. (figuratively, intransitive) To move or spread quickly.
    • There's a strange story running around the neighborhood that you had a miscarriage last year.
    • The flu is running through my daughter's kindergarten.
  7. (intransitive) Of an object, to have a liquid flowing from it.
    • Your nose is running.
    • Why is the hose still running?
  8. (transitive) To make a liquid or electric current flow from or into an object.
    • Run the water out into the pool.
    • They ran the electricity back behind the wall.
  9. (intransitive) To become liquid; to melt.
    • As Wax dissolves, as Ice begins to run,1717 [a. 18 CE], Ovid, translated by Joseph Addison, Ovid's Metamorphoses in fifteen books. Translated by the most eminent hands. Adorn'd with sculptures, Book the Third, The Story of Narcissus, page...
    • The Sussex ores run pretty freely in the Fire for Iron-Ores; otherwise they would hardly be worth working.1729, John Woodward, An Attempt Towards a Natural History of the Fossils of England, Tome I, page 223
  10. (intransitive) To leak or spread in an undesirable fashion; to bleed (especially used of dye or paint).
    • During washing, the red from the rug ran onto the white sheet, staining it pink.
  11. To fuse; to shape; to mould; to cast.
    • to run bullets
    • But, my Lord, the fairest Diamonds are rough till they are polished, and the purest Gold must be run and washed, and sifted in the Oar.1718, Henry Felton, A Dissertation on Reading the Classics, and Forming a Just Style, page 6
  12. To sail before the wind, in distinction from reaching or sailing close-hauled.
  13. (transitive) To control or manage; to be in charge of.
    • My uncle ran a corner store for forty years.
    • She runs the fundraising.
  14. (intransitive) To be a candidate in an election.
    • I have decided to run for governor of California.
    • We're trying to find somebody to run against him next year.
  15. (transitive) To make enter a race.
    • He ran his best horse in the Derby.
    • We're running two cars in today's rally.
  16. (transitive) To make stand in an election.
    • The Green Party is running twenty candidates in this election.
  17. To exert continuous activity; to proceed.
    • to run through life; to run in a circle
  18. (intransitive) To be presented in the media.
    • The story will run on the 6-o'clock news.
    • The latest Robin Williams movie is running at the Silver City theatre.
  19. (transitive) To print or broadcast in the media.
    • run a story; run an ad
  20. (transitive) To smuggle (illegal goods).
    • They are running guns to the rebels.
    • [...]whereas in the business of laying heavy impositions two and two never made more than one ; which happens by lessening the import, and the strong temptation of running such goods as paid high duties1728, Jonathan Swift, “An answer to a paper, called A memorial of the poor inhabitants, tradesmen, and labourers of the kingdom of Ireland”, in The Works of Dr. Jonathan Swift, published 1757, page...
  21. (transitive) To sort through a large volume of produce in quality control.
    • Looks like we're gonna have to run the tomatoes again.
  22. (intransitive) To extend in space or through a range (often with a measure phrase).
    • The border runs for 3000 miles.
    • The leash runs along a wire.
  23. (intransitive) To extend in time, to last, to continue (usually with a measure phrase).
    • The sale will run for ten days.
    • The contract runs through 2008.
  24. (transitive) To make (something) extend in space.
    • I need to run this wire along the wall.
  25. (intransitive) Of a machine, including computer programs, to be operating or working normally.
    • My car stopped running.
    • That computer runs twenty-four hours a day.
  26. (transitive) To make a machine operate.
    • It's full. You can run the dishwasher now.
    • Don't run the engine so fast.
  27. (transitive) To execute or carry out a plan, procedure, or program.
    • They ran twenty blood tests on me and they still don't know what's wrong.
    • Our coach had us running plays for the whole practice.
  28. To pass or go quickly in thought or conversation.
    • to run from one subject to another
    • Virgil was so well acquainted with this Secret, that to set off his first Georgic, he has run into a set of Precepts, which are almost foreign to his Subject,1697, Joseph Addison, “An essay on the Georgics”, in The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Aeneis, by John Dryden
  29. (copulative) To become different in a way mentioned (usually to become worse).
    • Our food supplies are running low because money is running short.
    • They frequently overspent and soon ran into debt.
  30. (transitive) To cost an amount of money.
    • Buying a new laptop will run you a thousand dollars.
    • Laptops run about a thousand dollars apiece.
  31. (intransitive) Of stitches or stitched clothing, to unravel.
    • My stocking is running.
  32. (transitive) To cause stitched clothing to unravel.
    • He took off the nylons & had runned one. He said "now I really look like a street whore!"1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure
  33. To pursue in thought; to carry in contemplation.
    • To run the world back to its first original and infancy, and, as it were, to view nature in its cradle,1692, Robert South, “Discourse I. The creation of man in God’s image”, in Discourses on Various Subjects and Occasions, published 1827, page 1
    • Methinks, if it might be, I would gladly understand the Formation of a Soul, run it up to its Punctum Saliens, and see it beat the first conscious Pulse.1695, Jeremy Collier, “A Thought”, in Miscellanies upon Moral Subjects by Jeremy Collier, page 88
  34. To cause to enter; to thrust.
    • to run a sword into or through the body; to run a nail into one's foot
    • “You run your head into the lion's mouth,” answered Mac-Ivor.1814, Sir Walter Scott, Waverley
  35. To drive or force; to cause, or permit, to be driven.
    • They ran the ship aground.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 27:41
    • [...]besides all this, a talkative person must needs be impertinent, and speak many idle words, and so render himself burdensome and odious to Company, and may perchance run himself upon great Inconveniences, by blabbing out his own or other’s Secrets;1691, John Ray, The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation
  36. To cause to be drawn; to mark out; to indicate; to determine.
    • to run a line
  37. (transitive) To encounter or incur (a danger or risk).
    • to run the risk of losing one's life
    • He runneth two dangers.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Friendship”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC
  38. (obsolete, transitive) To put at hazard; to venture; to risk.
    • He would himself be in the Highlands to receive them, and run his fortune with them.1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed...
  39. (obsolete, transitive) To tease with sarcasms and ridicule.
  40. To sew (a seam) by passing the needle through material in a continuous line, generally taking a series of stitches on the needle at the same time.
  41. To control or have precedence in a card game.
    • Every three or four hands he would run the table.
  42. To be in form thus, as a combination of words.
    • Which Sovereignty, with us, ſo undoubtedly reſideth in the Perſon of the King, that his ordinary Style runneth — Our Sovereign Lord the King: […]1722 [1647], Robert Sanderson, translated by Thomas Lewis, A Preservative Against Schism and Rebellion, in the Most Trying Times, volume 1, translation of De juramenti promissorii obligatione, page...
    • The departure was not unduly prolonged. In the road Mr. Love and the driver favoured the company with a brief chanty running: “Got it?—No, I ain't, 'old on,—Got it? Got it?—No, 'old on sir.”1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC
  43. (archaic) To be popularly known; to be generally received.
    • [...]great captains, and even consular men, who first brought them over, took pride in giving them their own names (by which they run a great while in Rome)c. 1685, William Temple, Upon the Gardens of Epicurus, published 1908, page 27
    • Neither was he ignorant what report ran of himselfe.1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC
  44. To have growth or development.
    • Boys and girls run up rapidly.
    • or the Richness of the Ground cause them [turnips] to run too much to Leaves1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC
  45. To tend, as to an effect or consequence; to incline.
    • A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Nature in Men”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC
    • It hath been observed, that the temperate climates usually run into moderate governments, and the extremes into despotic power.1708, Jonathan Swift, “The Sentiments of a Church-of-England Man with respect to Religion and Government”, in The Works of Dr. Jonathan Swift, published 1757, page 235
  46. To have a legal course; to be attached; to continue in force, effect, or operation; to follow; to go in company.
    • Certain covenants run with the land.
    • Customs run only upon our goods imported or exported, and that but once for all; whereas interest runs as well upon our ships as goods, and must be yearly paid.c. 1665, Josiah Child, Discourse on Trade
  47. To encounter or suffer (a particular, usually bad, fate or misfortune).
    • Don't let me run the fate of all who show indulgence to your sex […].1748, [Samuel Richardson], chapter 8, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume I, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC
  48. To strike (the ball) in such a way as to cause it to run along the ground, as when approaching a hole.
  49. (rare) To speedrun.
  50. (especially) To eject from a game or match.
    • Jackson got himself run in the top of the sixth for arguing a borderline strike three call.
  51. To press (a bank, etc.) with immediate demands for payment.
  52. (slang) To play basketball (usually pickup).
    • you wanna run? -- 'do you want to play?'; said to someone not in the game but who is watching and ready to play, when a team needs another player to make five (usually) for a pick-up game2002 August 24, Linguist List Listserv
    • "You wanna run?"1996, Paul Beatty, The White Boy Shuffle

Noun

run (plural runs)

  1. Act or instance of running, of moving rapidly using the feet.
    • I just got back from my morning run.
    • Krohn-Dehli took advantage of a lucky bounce of the ball after a battling run on the left flank by Simon Poulsen, dummied two defenders and shot low through goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg's legs after 24 minutes.2012 June 9, Owen Phillips, “Euro 2012: Netherlands 0-1 Denmark”, in BBC Sport
  2. Act or instance of hurrying (to or from a place) (not necessarily on foot); dash or errand, trip.
    • I need to make a run to the store.
    • […] and on the 18th of January this squadron put to sea. The first place of rendezvous was the boy of port St. Julian, upon the coast of Patagonia, and all accidents were provided against with admirable foresight. Their run to port St. Julian was dangerous […]1759, N. Tindal, The Continuation of Mr Rapin's History of England, volume 21 (continuation volume 9), page 92
  3. A pleasure trip.
    • Let's go for a run in the car.
    • And I think of giving her a run in London for a change.1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, chapter 30, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC
  4. Flight, instance or period of fleeing.
    • During his run from the police, he claimed to have a metaphysical experience which can only be described as “having passed through an abyss.”2006, Tsirk Susej, The Demonic Bible, →ISBN, page 41
  5. Migration of fish.
  6. (collective) A group of fish that migrate, or ascend a river for the purpose of spawning.
  7. A (regular) trip or route.
    • The bus on the Cherry Street run is always crowded.
    • You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon? It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.1977, Star Wars (film)
  8. The route taken while running or skiing.
    • Which run did you do today?
  9. (bobsledding) A single trip down a hill, as in skiing and bobsledding.
  10. The distance sailed by a ship.
    • a good run; a run of fifty miles
  11. A voyage.
    • a run to China
  12. A trial.
    • The data got lost, so I'll have to perform another run of the experiment.
Show 35 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. The execution of a program or model
    • This morning's run of the SHIPS statistical model gave Hurricane Priscilla a 74% chance of gaining at least 30 knots of intensity in 24 hours, reconfirmed by the HMON and GFS dynamical models.
  2. A playthrough, or attempted playthrough; a session of play.
    • This was my first successful run without losing any health.
    • That NPC bugged out and killed my run.
  3. Unrestricted use. Only used in have the run of.
    • He can have the run of the house.
  4. An enclosure for an animal; a track or path along which something can travel.
    • He set up a rabbit run.
  5. (Australia, New Zealand) A rural landholding for farming, usually for running sheep, and operated by a runholder.
  6. State of being current; currency; popularity.
    • It is impossible for detached papers[...] to have a general run, or long continuance, if they are not diversified[...].1715 June 4 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 45. Tuesday, May 25. [1715.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob...
  7. A continuous period (of time) marked by a trend; a period marked by a continuing trend.
    • I’m having a run of bad luck.
    • “ […] had had the preceding night an uncommon run of luck”.1782 Frances Burney Cecilia
  8. A series of tries in a game that were successful.
    • If our team can keep up their strong defense, expect them to make a run in this tournament.
  9. A production quantity (such as in a factory).
    • Yesterday we did a run of 12,000 units.
    • The book’s initial press run will be 5,000 copies.
  10. The period of showing of a play, film, TV series, etc.
    • The run of the show lasted two weeks, and we sold out every night.
    • It is the last week of our French cinema run.
  11. (slang) A period of extended (usually daily) drug use.
    • And I'll tell ya, things aren't quite the same / When I'm rushing on my run.1964, The Velvet Underground, Heroin
    • Frank Fixwell, a 25 year-old male, has been on a heroin "run" (daily use) for the past two years.1975, Lloyd Y. Young, Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, Brian S. Katcher, Applied Therapeutics for Clinical Pharmacists
  12. A sequence of cards in a suit in a card game.
  13. A rapid passage in music, especially along a scale.
  14. A flow of liquid; a leak.
    • The constant run of water from the faucet annoys me.
    • a run of must in wine-making
  15. (Pennsylvania, Virginia, West, chiefly eastern North Midland US, especially Ohio) A small creek or part thereof. (Compare Southern US branch and New York and New England brook.)
    • The military campaign near that creek was known as "The battle of Bull Run".
  16. A quick pace, faster than a walk.
    • He broke into a run.
    1. A fast gallop.
  17. A sudden series of demands on a bank or other financial institution, especially characterised by great withdrawals.
    • Financial insecurity led to a run on the banks, as customers feared for the security of their savings.
  18. Any sudden large demand for something.
    • There was a run on Christmas presents.
  19. The top of a step on a staircase, also called a tread, as opposed to the rise.
  20. The horizontal length of a set of stairs
  21. Horizontal dimension of a slope.
  22. A standard or unexceptional group or category.
    • He stood out from the usual run of applicants.
  23. A stretch when one team heavily outscores the other.
    • After trailing by as much as 12 points in the second half, Florida went on a 8-0 run to get back in the game.2025 April 7, NCAA
  24. (slang) A basketball game (usually pickup).
    • I’m coming up next month to work for the summer and wanna know where I can get some run or any intel on indoor and outdoor courts.2024 April 10, Reddit Juneau
    • I used to see homies getting some run in regularly at Pomeroy but it died down this summer for some reason...
      dunno why.. them runs was fireeeeeee2022 September 1, Reddit Burlington
  25. A score when a runner touches all bases legally; the act of a runner scoring.
  26. The act of passing from one wicket to another; the point scored for this.
  27. A running play.
    • … one of the greatest runs of all time.
    • Aaron Roberts added an insurance touchdown on a one-yard run.2003, Jack Seibold, Spartan Sports Encyclopedia, page 592
  28. The movement communicated to a golf ball by running it.
  29. The distance a ball travels after touching the ground from a stroke.
  30. The distance drilled with a bit, in oil drilling.
    • Well, when you compare the cone type with the cross roller bit, you get a longer run, there is less tendency of the bit to go flat while running in various formations. It cleans itself better.1832, Records and Briefs of the United States Supreme Court, page 21
  31. A line of knit stitches that have unravelled, particularly in a nylon stocking.
    • I have a run in my stocking.
    • A camera pans the cocktail hour / Behind a blind of potted palms / And finds a lady in a Paris dress / With runs in her nylons1975, Joni Mitchell, “The Boho Dance”, in The Hissing of Summer Lawns
  32. The stern of the underwater body of a ship from where it begins to curve upward and inward.
  33. The horizontal distance to which a drift may be carried, either by licence 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.
  34. A pair or set of millstones.
  35. One’s gait while running; the way one runs.
    • I think they only have a weird run because their leg hurts.

Adjective

run (not comparable)

  1. In a liquid state; melted or molten.
    • Put some run butter on the vegetables.
    • Samples of the regular run butter were sealed in 1 pound tins and sent to Washington, where the butter was scored and examined.1921, L. W. Ferris, H. W. Redfield, W. R. North, “The Volatile Acids and the Volatile Oxidizable Substances of Cream and Experimental Butter”, in Journal of Dairy Science, volume 4, page 522
  2. Cast in a mould.
    • [...] the Sides are generally made of Holland's Tiles, or Plates of run Iron, ornamented variously as Fancy dictates, [...]1735, Thomas Frankz, A tour through France, Flanders, and Germany: in a letter to Robert Savil, page 18
    • Vast quantities are cast in sand moulds, with that kind of run steel which is so largely used in the production of common table-knives and forks.1833, The Cabinet Cyclopaedia: A treatise on the progressive improvement and present state of the Manufactures in Metal, volume 2, Iron and Steel (printed in London), page 314
  3. Exhausted; depleted (especially with "down" or "out").
  4. Travelled, migrated; having made a migration or a spawning run.
    • The temperature of the water is consequently much higher than in either England or Scotland, and many newly run salmon will be found in early spring in the upper waters of Irish rivers where obstructions exist.1889, Henry Cholmondeley-Pennell, Fishing: Salmon and Trout, fifth edition, page 185
    • It may be very much a metallic appearance as opposed to the silver freshness of a recently run salmon.1986, Arthur Oglesby, Fly fishing for salmon and sea trout, page 15
  5. Smuggled.
    • run brandy

Also used as

run is also the past participle of rin.

run meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

run in Hindi

to move quickly on two feet
दौड़ना dauṛnā

run in Tamil

to move quickly on two feet
ஓடு ōṭu
to be in charge of
நடத்து naṭattu
of a machine, to be operating normally
ஓடு ōṭu

run in Marathi

to move quickly on two feet
पळणे paḷṇe, धावणे dhāvṇe

run in Urdu

to move quickly on two feet
دَوڑْنا dauṛnā
More languagesFewer languages
run in Bengali
দৌড়ানো dōuṛanō
run in Telugu
పరుగెత్తు parugettu
run in Malayalam
ഓടുക ōṭuka
run in Kannada
ಓಡು ōḍu
run in Punjabi
ਦੌੜਣਾ dauṛṇā
run in Gujarati
દોડવું doḍvũ, રન ran
run in Odia
ଦଉଡ଼ିବା dauṛibā, ଦୌଡ଼ିବା dauṛibā, ଧାଇଁବା dhāĩbā, ନର୍ଦିବା nardibā
run in Sanskrit
द्रवति dravati, धावति dhāvati
run in Sinhala
දුවනවා duwanawā
run in Assamese
দৌৰা doura
run in Nepali
दगुर्नु dagurnu, दौडनु dauṛanu
run in Pashto
الاکول alākawəl
run in Tagalog
takbo, tumakbo
run in Arabic
رَكَضَ rakaḍa, جَرَى jarā
run in Malay
berlari, lari, mengalir, larian
run in Indonesian
lari, berlari, menjalankan, mengalir
run in Persian
دو dow
run in Thai
วิ่ง wîng
run in Vietnamese
chạy, chảy
run in Myanmar
ပြေး pre:
Sindhi
ڊڪڻ ḍkṇ

Examples of run in a sentence

  • I felt her fingers running over my cheek.
  • Run your fingers through my hair.
  • Run a flag up (the pole/mast)
  • The car could not be repaired in time for the race and did not run.
  • The current runs to the toaster.
  • My eyes were watering and now tears are running down my cheeks.

All 40 example sentences with run

Synonyms of run

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of run

Forms of run

Verb
third-person singular presentruns
present participlerunning
pastran
past participlerun
past participle (nonstandard, colloquial)ran
second-person singular present (archaic)runnest
second-person singular past (archaic)ranst
second-person singular past (archaic)rannest
third-person singular present (archaic)runneth
alternative form (dialectal)rin
alternative form (dialectal)ren
Noun
pluralruns

Past tense of run: ran

Plural of run: runs

Origin of run

From Middle English runnen, rennen (“to run”), alteration (due to the past participle runne, runnen, yronne) of Middle English rinnen (“to run”), from Old English rinnan, iernan (“to run”) and Old Norse rinna (“to run”), both from Proto-Germanic *rinnaną (“to run”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH- (“to boil, churn”). Cognate with Scots rin (“to run”), West Frisian rinne (“to walk, march”), archaic Dutch rinnen (“to flow”, still in geronnen), German rinnen (“to flow”), Swedish rinna (“to flow”), and Icelandic renna (“to flow”). From the causative Proto-Germanic *rannijaną (“to make run”) are Dutch rennen, German rennen, Danish rende, Swedish ränna (all “to run”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian rend (“to run, run after”), Persian راندن (rândan, “to move, set in motion”). See also random.

Words formed from run

Phrases with run

170 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with run

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about run

What does run mean?
Run means to move forward quickly upon two feet by alternately making a short jump off either foot.
What is run in Hindi?
Run in Hindi is दौड़ना (dauṛnā). See Run meaning in Hindi.
How do you use run in a sentence?
I felt her fingers running over my cheek.
What part of speech is run?
Run can be a verb, a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce run?
Run is pronounced /ɹʌn/ (UK).
What is the past tense of run?
The past tense of run is ran.

Words near run in the dictionary

  1. rumswizzles
  2. rumtini
  3. rumtinis
  4. Rumville
  5. Rumworth
  6. run
  7. run a bath
  8. run a fever
  9. run a mile
  10. run a muck
  11. run a red light

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: run (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-run.ogg, en-au-run.ogg.

Cite this entry: “run.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/run. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.