Run v. t. (past ran; past part. run; pres. part. running) 1.To cause to run (in the various senses of Run, v. i.); as, to run a horse; to run a stage; to run a machine; to run a rope through a block. 2.To pursue in thought; to carry in contemplation. "To run the world back to its first original." "I would gladly understand the formation of a soul, and run it up to its "punctum saliens.""
3.To cause to enter; to thrust; as, to run a sword into or through the body; to run a nail into the foot. "You run your head into the lion's mouth." "Having run his fingers through his hair."
4.To drive or force; to cause, or permit, to be driven. "They ran the ship aground." "A talkative person runs himself upon great inconveniences by blabbing out his own or other's secrets." "Others, accustomed to retired speculations, run natural philosophy into metaphysical notions."
5.To fuse; to shape; to mold; to cast; as, to run bullets, and the like. "The purest gold must be run and washed."
6.To cause to be drawn; to mark out; to indicate; to determine; as, to run a line.
7.To cause to pass, or evade, offical restrictions; to smuggle; said of contraband or dutiable goods. "Heavy impositions... are a strong temptation of running goods."
8.To go through or accomplish by running; as, to run a race; to run a certain career.
9.To cause to stand as a candidate for office; to support for office; as, to run some one for Congress. (Colloq. U.S.)
10.To encounter or incur, as a danger or risk; as, to run the risk of losing one's life. See To run the chances, below. "He runneth two dangers." "If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.".
11.To put at hazard; to venture; to risk. "He would himself be in the Highlands to receive them, and run his fortune with them."
12.To discharge; to emit; to give forth copiously; to be bathed with; as, the pipe or faucet runs hot water. "At the base of Pompey's statua, Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell."
13.To be charged with, or to contain much of, while flowing; as, the rivers ran blood.
14.To conduct; to manage; to carry on; as, to run a factory or a hotel. (Colloq. U.S.)
15.To tease with sarcasms and ridicule. (Colloq.)
16.To sew, as 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.
17.To migrate or move in schools; said of fish; esp., to ascend a river in order to spawn.
18.(Golf) To strike (the ball) in such a way as to cause it to run along the ground, as when approaching a hole.
To run a blockade, to get to, or away from, a blockaded port in safety.
To run down. (a)(Hunting) To chase till the object pursued is captured or exhausted; as, to run down a stag.
(b)(Naut.) To run against and sink, as a vessel.
(c)To crush; to overthrow; to overbear. "Religion is run down by the license of these times."
(d)To disparage; to traduce.
To run hard. (a)To press in competition; as, to run one hard in a race.
(b)To urge or press importunately.
To run into the ground, to carry to an absurd extreme; to overdo. (Slang, U.S.)
To run off, to cause to flow away, as a charge of molten metal from a furnace.
To run on (Print.), to carry on or continue, as the type for a new sentence, without making a break or commencing a new paragraph.
To run out. (a)To thrust or push out; to extend.
(b)To waste; to exhaust; as, to run out an estate.
(c)(Baseball) To put out while running between two bases. Also called to run out.
To run the chances or To run one's chances, to encounter all the risks of a certain course.
To run through, to transfix; to pierce, as with a sword. "(He) was run through the body by the man who had asked his advice."
To run up. (a)To thrust up, as anything long and slender.
(b)To increase; to enlarge by additions, as an account.
(c)To erect hastily, as a building.