(~s, ~ning, ran)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Note: The form '~' is used in the present tense and is also the past participle of the verb.
1.
When you ~, you move more quickly than when you walk, for example because you are in a hurry to get somewhere, or for exercise.
I excused myself and ran back to the telephone...
He ran the last block to the White House with two cases of gear...
Antonia ran to meet them.
VERB: V adv/prep, V n/amount, V
•
Run is also a noun.
After a six-mile ~, Jackie returns home for a substantial breakfast.
N-COUNT: usu sing
2.
When someone ~s in a race, they ~ in competition with other people.
...when I was ~ning in the New York Marathon...
Phyllis Smith ran a controlled race to qualify in 51.32 sec.
VERB: V, V n
3.
When a horse ~s in a race or when its owner ~s it, it competes in a race.
The owner insisted on Cool Ground ~ning in the Gold Cup...
If we have a wet spell, Cecil could also ~ Armiger in the Derby.
VERB: V, V n
4.
If you say that something long, such as a road, ~s in a particular direction, you are describing its course or position. You can also say that something ~s the length or width of something else.
...the sun-dappled trail which ran through the beech woods.
VERB: V prep/adv
5.
If you ~ a wire or tube somewhere, you fix it or pull it from, to, or across a particular place.
Our host ran a long extension cord out from the house and set up a screen and a projector.
VERB: V n prep/adv
6.
If you ~ your hand or an object through something, you move your hand or the object through it.
He laughed and ran his fingers through his hair...
VERB: V n prep
7.
If you ~ something through a machine, process, or series of tests, you make it go through the machine, process, or tests.
They have gathered the best statistics they can find and ~ them through their own computers.
VERB: V n through n
8.
If someone ~s for office in an election, they take part as a candidate.
It was only last February that he announced he would ~ for president...
It is no easy job to ~ against John Glenn, Ohio’s Democratic senator...
Women are ~ning in nearly all the contested seats in Los Angeles.
= stand
VERB: V for n, V against n, V
9.
A ~ for office is an attempt to be elected to office. (mainly AM; in BRIT, usually use bid )
He was already preparing his ~ for the presidency.
N-SING: N for n
10.
If you ~ something such as a business or an activity, you are in charge of it or you organize it.
His stepfather ran a prosperous paint business...
Is this any way to ~ a country?...
...a well-~, profitable organisation.
VERB: V n, V n, V-ed
11.
If you talk about how a system, an organization, or someone’s life is ~ning, you are saying how well it is operating or progressing.
Officials in charge of the camps say the system is now ~ning extremely smoothly.
...the staff who have kept the bank ~ning.
VERB: usu cont, V adv, V
12.
If you ~ an experiment, computer program, or other process, or start it ~ning, you start it and let it continue.
He ran a lot of tests and it turned out I had an infection called mycoplasma...
You can check your program one command at a time while it’s ~ning.
VERB: V n, V
13.
When you ~ a cassette or video tape or when it ~s, it moves through the machine as the machine operates.
He pushed the play button again and ran the tape...
The tape had ~ to the end but recorded nothing.
= play
VERB: V n, V
14.
When a machine is ~ning or when you are ~ning it, it is switched on and is working.
We told him to wait out front with the engine ~ning.
...with everybody ~ning their appliances all at the same time.
VERB: usu cont, V, V n
15.
A machine or equipment that ~s on or off a particular source of energy functions using that source of energy.
Black cabs ~ on diesel...
VERB: V on/off n
16.
If you ~ a car or a piece of equipment, you have it and use it. (mainly BRIT)
I ran a 1960 Rover 100 from 1977 until 1983.
VERB: V n
17.
When you say that vehicles such as trains and buses ~ from one place to another, you mean they regularly travel along that route.
A shuttle bus ~s frequently between the Inn and the Country Club.
...a government which can’t make the trains ~ on time.
VERB: V prep, V
18.
If you ~ someone somewhere in a car, you drive them there. (INFORMAL)
Could you ~ me up to Baltimore?
= drive
VERB: V n prep/adv
19.
If you ~ over or down to a place that is quite near, you drive there. (INFORMAL)
I’ll ~ over to Short Mountain and check on Mrs Adams.
= drive
VERB: V adv
20.
A ~ is a journey somewhere.
...doing the morning school ~.
N-COUNT
21.
If a liquid ~s in a particular direction, it flows in that direction.
Tears were ~ning down her cheeks...
Wash the rice in cold water until the water ~s clear.
= flow
VERB: V prep/adv, V adj
22.
If you ~ water, or if you ~ a tap or a bath, you cause water to flow from a tap.
She went to the sink and ran water into her empty glass...
VERB: V n
23.
If a tap or a bath is ~ning, water is coming out of a tap.
You must have left a tap ~ning in the bathroom...
VERB: only cont, V
24.
If your nose is ~ning, liquid is flowing out of it, usually because you have a cold.
Timothy was crying, mostly from exhaustion, and his nose was ~ning.
VERB: usu cont, V
25.
If a surface is ~ning with a liquid, that liquid is flowing down it.
After an hour he realised he was completely ~ning with sweat...
VERB: usu cont, V with n
26.
If the dye in some cloth or the ink on some paper ~s, it comes off or spreads when the cloth or paper gets wet.
The ink had ~ on the wet paper.
VERB: V
27.
If a feeling ~s through your body or a thought ~s through your mind, you experience it or think it quickly.
She felt a surge of excitement ~ through her...
= go
VERB: V through n
28.
If a feeling or noise ~s through a group of people, it spreads among them.
A buzz of excitement ran through the crowd.
= go
VERB: V through n
29.
If a theme or feature ~s through something such as someone’s actions or writing, it is present in all of it.
Another thread ~ning through this series is the role of doctors in the treatment of the mentally ill...
There was something of this mood ~ning throughout the Congress’s deliberations.
VERB: V through n, V throughout n
30.
When newspapers or magazines ~ a particular item or story or if it ~s, it is published or printed.
The newspaper ran a series of four editorials entitled ‘The Choice of Our Lives.’
...an editorial that ran this weekend entitled ‘Mr. Cuomo Backs Out.’
VERB: V n, V
31.
If an amount is ~ning at a particular level, it is at that level.
Today’s RPI figure shows inflation ~ning at 10.9 per cent...
= stand
VERB: V at n
32.
If a play, event, or legal contract ~s for a particular period of time, it lasts for that period of time.
It pleased critics but ran for only three years in the West End...
The contract was to ~ from 1992 to 2020...
I predict it will ~ and ~.
VERB: V for amount, V prep, V
33.
If someone or something is ~ning late, they have taken more time than had been planned. If they are ~ning to time or ahead of time, they have taken the time planned or less than the time planned.
Tell her I’ll call her back later, I’m ~ning late again...
VERB: usu cont, V adv/prep
34.
If you are ~ning a temperature or a fever, you have a high temperature because you are ill.
The little girl is ~ning a fever and she needs help.
VERB: V n
35.
A ~ of a play or television programme is the period of time during which performances are given or programmes are shown.
The show will transfer to the West End on October 9, after a month’s ~ in Birmingham...
N-COUNT: with supp
36.
A ~ of successes or failures is a series of successes or failures.
The England skipper is haunted by a ~ of low scores...
N-SING: usu N of n
37.
A ~ of a product is the amount that a company or factory decides to produce at one time.
Wayne plans to increase the print ~ to 1,000...
N-COUNT: usu supp N
38.
In cricket or baseball, a ~ is a score of one, which is made by players ~ning between marked places on the field after hitting the ball.
At 20 he became the youngest player to score 2,000 ~s in a season.
N-COUNT
39.
If someone gives you the ~ of a place, they give you permission to go where you like in it and use it as you wish.
He had the ~ of the house and the pool.
N-SING: the N of n
40.
If there is a ~ on something, a lot of people want to buy it or get it at the same time.
A ~ on sterling has killed off hopes of a rate cut...
N-SING: N on n
41.
A ski ~ or bobsleigh ~ is a course or route that has been designed for skiing or for riding in a bobsleigh.
N-COUNT: usu n N
42.
see also ~ning , dummy ~ , test ~ , trial ~
43.
If something happens against the ~ of play or against the ~ of events, it is different from what is generally happening in a game or situation. (BRIT)
The decisive goal arrived against the ~ of play...
PHRASE
44.
If you ~ someone close, ~ them a close second, or ~ a close second, you almost beat them in a race or competition.
The Under-21 team has defeated Wales and Scotland this season, and ran England very close...
PHRASE: V inflects
45.
If a river or well ~s dry, it no longer has any water in it. If an oil well ~s dry, it no longer produces any oil.
Streams had ~ dry for the first time in memory.
= dry up
PHRASE: V inflects
46.
If a source of information or money ~s dry, no more information or money can be obtained from it.
Three days into production, the kitty had ~ dry.
= dry up
PHRASE: V inflects
47.
If a characteristic ~s in someone’s family, it often occurs in members of that family, in different generations.
The insanity which ran in his family haunted him.
PHRASE: V inflects
48.
If you make a ~ for it or if you ~ for it, you ~ away in order to escape from someone or something.
A helicopter hovered overhead as one of the gang made a ~ for it...
PHRASE: V inflects
49.
If people’s feelings are ~ning high, they are very angry, concerned, or excited.
Feelings there have been ~ning high in the wake of last week’s killing.
PHRASE: V inflects
50.
If you talk about what will happen in the long ~, you are saying what you think will happen over a long period of time in the future. If you talk about what will happen in the short ~, you are saying what you think will happen in the near future.
Sometimes expensive drugs or other treatments can be economical in the long ~...
In fact, things could get worse in the short ~.
PHRASE: PHR with cl, PHR with v
51.
If you say that someone would ~ a mile if faced with something, you mean that they are very frightened of it and would try to avoid it.
Yasmin admits she would ~ a mile if Mark asked her out.
PHRASE: V inflects
52.
If you say that someone could give someone else a ~ for their money, you mean you think they are almost as good as the other person.
...a youngster who even now could give Meryl Streep a ~ for her money.
PHRASE: V inflects
53.
If someone is on the ~, they are trying to escape or hide from someone such as the police or an enemy.
Fifteen-year-old Danny is on the ~ from a local authority home.
PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v
54.
If someone is on the ~, they are being severely defeated in a contest or competition.
His opponents believe he is definitely on the ~...
PHRASE: usu v-link PHR
55.
If you say that a person or group is ~ning scared, you mean that they are frightened of what someone might do to them or what might happen.
The administration is ~ning scared.
PHRASE: V inflects
56.
If you are ~ning short of something or ~ning low on something, you do not have much of it left. If a supply of something is ~ning short or ~ning low, there is not much of it left.
Government forces are ~ning short of ammunition and fuel...
We are ~ning low on drinking water...
PHRASE: V inflects
57.
to ~ amok: see amok
to make your blood ~ cold: see blood
to ~ counter to something : see counter
to ~ its course: see course
to ~ deep: see deep
to ~ an errand: see errand
to ~ the gamut of something : see gamut
to ~ the gauntlet: see gauntlet
to ~ rings around someone : see ring
to ~ riot: see riot
to ~ a risk: see risk
to ~ to seed: see seed
to ~ wild: see wild