Run \Run\, v. i. [imp. Ranor Run; p. p. Run; p. pr. & vb.
n. Running.]
[OE. rinnen, rennen (imp. ran, p. p. runnen,
ronnen). AS. rinnan to flow (imp. ran, p. p. gerunnen), and
iernan, irnan, to run (imp. orn, arn, earn, p. p. urnen);
akin to D. runnen, rennen, OS. & OHG. rinnan, G. rinnen,
rennen, Icel. renna, rinna, Sw. rinna, r["a]nna, Dan. rinde,
rende, Goth. rinnan, and perh. to L. oriri to rise, Gr. ? to
stir up, rouse, Skr. ? (cf. Origin), or perh. to L. rivus
1. Cf. Ember, a., Rennet.]
1. To move, proceed, advance, pass, go, come, etc., swiftly,
smoothly, or with quick action; -- said of things animate
or inanimate. Hence, to flow, glide, or roll onward, as a
stream, a snake, a wagon, etc.; to move by quicker action
than in walking, as a person, a horse, a dog.
Specifically:
2. Of voluntary or personal action:
(a) To go swiftly; to pass at a swift pace; to hasten.
``Ha, ha, the fox!'' and after him they ran.
--Chaucer.
(b) To flee, as from fear or danger.
As from a bear a man would run for life. --Shak.
(c) To steal off; to depart secretly.
My conscience will serve me to run from this
jew. --Shak.
(d) To contend in a race; hence, to enter into a contest;
to become a candidate; as, to run for Congress.
Know ye not that they which run in a race run
all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that
ye may obtain. --1 Cor. ix.
24.
(e) To pass from one state or condition to another; to
come into a certain condition; -- often with in or
into; as, to run into evil practices; to run in debt.
Have I not cause to rave and beat my breast, to
rend my heart with grief and run distracted?
--Addison.
(f) To exert continuous activity; to proceed; as, to run
through life; to run in a circle.
(g) To pass or go quickly in thought or conversation; as,
to run from one subject to another.
Virgil, in his first Georgic, has run into a set
of precepts foreign to his subject. --Addison.
(h) To discuss; to continue to think or speak about
something; -- with on.
(i) To make numerous drafts or demands for payment, as
upon a bank; -- with on.
(j) To creep, as serpents.
3. Of involuntary motion:
(a) To flow, as a liquid; to ascend or descend; to course;
as, rivers run to the sea; sap runs up in the spring;
her blood ran cold.
(b) To proceed along a surface; to extend; to spread.
The fire ran along upon the ground. --Ex. ix.
23.
(c) To become fluid; to melt; to fuse.
As wax dissolves, as ice begins to run.
--Addison.
Sussex iron ores run freely in the fire.
--Woodward.
(d) To turn, as a wheel; to revolve on an axis or pivot;
as, a wheel runs swiftly round.
(e) To travel; to make progress; to be moved by mechanical
means; to go; as, the steamboat runs regularly to
Albany; the train runs to Chicago.
(f) To extend; to reach; as, the road runs from
Philadelphia to New York; the memory of man runneth
not to the contrary.
She saw with joy the line immortal run, Each
sire impressed, and glaring in his son. --Pope.
(g) To go back and forth from place to place; to ply; as,
the stage runs between the hotel and the station.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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