n. 25B6; verb
she ran across the road : SPRINT, race, dart, rush, dash, hasten, hurry, scurry, scamper, hare, bolt, fly, gallop, career, charge, shoot, hurtle, speed, zoom, go like lightning, go hell for leather, go like the wind; jog, trot; informal tear, pelt, scoot, hotfoot it, leg it, belt, zip, whip; Brit. informal bomb; N. Amer. informal hightail it, barrel.
the robbers turned and ran : FLEE, run away, run off, run for it, take flight, make off, take off, take to one's heels, make a break for it, bolt, make one's getaway, escape; informal beat it, clear off/out, vamoose, skedaddle, split, leg it, scram; Brit. informal do a runner, scarper, do a bunk; N. Amer. informal light out, take a powder, skidoo; Austral. informal shoot through.
he ran in the marathon : COMPETE, take part, participate.
a shiver ran down my spine : GO, pass, slide, move, travel.
he ran his eye down the list : CAST, pass, skim, flick.
the road runs the length of the valley : EXTEND, stretch, reach, continue.
water ran from the eaves : FLOW, pour, stream, gush, flood, cascade, roll, course, spill, trickle, drip, dribble, leak.
a bus runs to Sorrento : TRAVEL, shuttle, go.
I'll run you home : DRIVE, take, bring, ferry, chauffeur, give someone a lift.
he runs a transport company : BE IN CHARGE OF, manage, direct, control, head, govern, supervise, superintend, oversee; operate, conduct, own.
it's expensive to run a car : MAINTAIN, keep, own, possess, have; drive.
they ran some tests : CARRY OUT, do, perform, execute.
he left the engine running : OPERATE, function, work, go; tick over, idle.
the lease runs for twenty years : BE VALID, last, be in effect, be operative, continue, be effective.
the show ran for two years : BE STAGED, be performed, be on, be mounted, be screened.
he ran for president : STAND FOR, be a candidate for, be a contender for.
the paper ran the story : PUBLISH, print, feature, carry, put out, release, issue.
they run drugs : SMUGGLE, traffic in, deal in.
they were run out of town : CHASE, drive, hound.
25B6; noun
his morning run : SPRINT, jog, dash, gallop, trot.
she did the school run : ROUTE, journey; circuit, round, beat.
a run in the car : DRIVE, ride, turn; trip, excursion, outing, jaunt, airing; informal spin, tootle; Scottish informal hurl.
an unbeaten run of victories : SERIES, succession, sequence, string, chain, streak, spell, stretch, spate.
a run on sterling : DEMAND FOR, rush on.
they had the run of her home : FREE USE OF, unrestricted access to.
the usual run of cafes : TYPE, kind, sort, variety, class.
against the run of play, he scored again : TREND, tendency, course, direction, movement, drift, tide.
a chicken run : ENCLOSURE, pen, coop.
a ski run : SLOPE, track, piste; N. Amer. trail.
a run in her tights : LADDER, rip, tear, snag, hole.
25A0; in the long run EVENTUALLY, in the end, ultimately, when all is said and done, in the fullness of time; Brit. informal at the end of the day.
25A0; on the run ON THE LOOSE, at large, loose; running away, fleeing, fugitive; informal AWOL; N. Amer. informal on the lam.
25A0; run across MEET (BY CHANCE), come across, run into, chance on, stumble on, happen on; informal bump into.
25A0; run after (informal) PURSUE, chase; make advances to, flirt with; informal make up to, come on to, be all over, vamp; dated set one's cap at.
25A0; run along (informal) GO AWAY, be off with you, shoo; informal scram, buzz off, skedaddle, scat, beat it, get lost, shove off, clear off; Brit. informal hop it; poetic/literary begone.
25A0; run away
her attacker ran away. : See run verb sense 2.
she ran away with the championship : WIN EASILY, win hands down; informal win by a mile, walk it, romp home.
25A0; run down DECLINE, degenerate, go downhill, go to seed, decay, go to rack and ruin; informal go to pot, go to the dogs.
25A0; run someone down
he was run down by joyriders : RUN OVER, knock down/over; hit, strike.
she ran him down in front of other people : CRITICIZE, denigrate, belittle, disparage, deprecate, find fault with; informal put down, knock, bad-mouth; Brit. informal rubbish, slag off; formal derogate.
25A0; run something down
she finally ran a copy of the book down : FIND, discover, locate, track down, trace, unearth.
employers ran down their workforces gradually : REDUCE, cut back on, downsize, decrease, trim; phase out, wind down/up.
25A0; run for it . See run verb sense 2.
25A0; run high feelings were running high : BE STRONG, be fervent, be passionate, be intense.
25A0; run in heart disease runs in the family : BE COMMON IN, be inherent in.
25A0; run someone in (informal) . See arrest verb sense 1.
25A0; run into
a car ran into his van : COLLIDE WITH, hit, strike, crash into, smash into, plough into, ram, impact.
I ran into Hugo the other day : MEET (BY CHANCE), run across, chance on, stumble on, happen on; informal bump into.
we ran into a problem : EXPERIENCE, encounter, meet with, be faced with, be confronted with.
his debts run into six figures : REACH, extend to, be as much as.
25A0; run low supplies were running low : DWINDLE, diminish, become depleted, be used up, be in short supply, be tight.
25A0; run off
the youths ran off. : See run verb sense 2.
(informal) he ran off with her money. : See steal verb sense 1.
25A0; run something off
would you run off that list for me? : COPY, photocopy, xerox, duplicate, print, produce, do.
run off some of the excess water : DRAIN, bleed, draw off, pump out.
25A0; run on
the call ran on for hours : CONTINUE, go on, carry on, last, keep going, stretch.
your mother does run on : TALK INCESSANTLY, talk a lot, go on, chatter on, ramble on; informal yak, gab, yabber; Brit. informal rabbit on, witter on, chunter on, talk the hind leg off a donkey; N. Amer. informal run off at the mouth.
25A0; run out
supplies ran out : BE USED UP, dry up, be exhausted, be finished, peter out.
they ran out of cash : BE OUT OF; use up, consume, eat up; informal be fresh out of, be cleaned out of.
her contract ran out : EXPIRE, end, terminate, finish; lapse.
25A0; run out on someone (informal) . See abandon verb sense 3.
25A0; run over
the bathwater ran over : OVERFLOW, spill over, brim over; archaic overbrim.
the project ran over budget : EXCEED, go over, overshoot, overreach.
he quickly ran over the story : RECAPITULATE, repeat, run through, go over, reiterate, review; look over, read through; informal recap on.
25A0; run someone over . See run someone down sense 1.
25A0; run the show (informal) BE IN CHARGE, be in control, be at the helm, be in the driving seat, be at the wheel; informal be the boss, call the shots.
25A0; run through
they quickly ran through their money : SQUANDER, spend, fritter away, dissipate, waste, go through, consume, use up; informal blow.
the attitude that runs through his writing : PERVADE, permeate, suffuse, imbue, inform.
he ran through his notes. : See run over sense 3.
let's run through scene three : REHEARSE, practise, go over, repeat; N. Amer. run down; informal recap on.
25A0; run someone through STAB, pierce, transfix, impale.
25A0; run to
the bill ran to £22,000 : AMOUNT TO, add up to, total, come to, equal, reach, be as much as.
we can't run to champagne : AFFORD, stretch to, manage.
he was running to fat : TEND TO, become, get, grow.