runner
Pluralrunners
- 1
- 2An entry in a race or contest, such as a horse or a person running for office.
The trainer entered his best runner in the big race.
Only three runners remained in the mayoral contest.
Similarentrant, competitor, contender, candidate, starter
- 3A long, narrow carpet for a busy area like a hallway or stairs.
They laid a blue runner down the hallway.
The stairs had a thick runner to soften footsteps.
- 4A worker in a restaurant who carries food from the kitchen to the tables.
The runner brought our plates out while the waiter took drinks.
Two runners hurried between the kitchen and the busy dining room.
Note
- 5A long stem that a plant sends out along the ground to grow new plants.
Like a long arm a plant reaches out to start a new little plant in the ground.
The strawberry plant put out a runner that rooted nearby.
We trimmed the runners so the bed wouldn't get crowded.
Similarstolon
Note
- 6
- 7A machine part that guides something or helps it move, using wheels or by sliding.
One runner on the closet door broke, so the door no longer slides.
Dad put new runners in the curtain track, and now the curtains open easily.
Note
- 8
- 9A person or boat that sneaks past a blockade or carries smuggled goods.
The runner slipped past the patrol boats at night.
Smugglers used a fast runner to bring goods ashore.
Similarsmuggler
Note
- 10The curved piece at the bottom of a rocking chair that lets it rock.
One runner on the old chair had split.
The rocking chair's runners creaked on the porch floor.
Similarrocker
- 11The metal blade on the bottom of an ice skate.
She sharpened the runner before the hockey game.
Dull runners make it hard to glide on the ice.
Similarblade
- 12
- 13A player who is on or running between the bases in baseball.
The runner stole second base easily.
Two runners scored on the double.
Note
- 14
- 15A fast escape from a place, often to avoid paying or getting caught.
They did a runner without paying the bill.
He did a runner the moment the police arrived.
Similarbunk
Note
- 16A strip of cloth used to decorate or protect a table or dresser.
She spread a lace runner across the dining table.
The runners on the dresser kept it from getting scratched.
- 17
- 18A joke that keeps coming back again and again in a show or story.
Like a song's chorus that comes back every few minutes.
The clumsy waiter became a runner that the whole sitcom kept returning to.
Their silly nickname for the boss turned into a runner that lasted all season.
Note
- 19A car that still works and can be driven.
The old truck is still a good runner after twenty years.
He sold me a cheap car that turned out to be a solid runner.
Note
- 20
- 21An idea or plan that has a real chance of being used or carried out.
Her plan to share tools between teams looks like a real runner.
After a few changes, the proposal finally became a runner.
Similargoer, contender, possibility
Oppositenon-starter
Note
- 22A person who tries to finish a video game as fast as possible.
The runner beat the game in under an hour on a live stream.
As a runner, she practices the same level hundreds of times.
Note
- 23A short loop of strong webbing with a clip at each end, used to join a climbing rope to safety gear.
Like a strong loop that hooks your climbing rope onto the rock.
She clipped a runner to the bolt and threaded the rope through it.
He carried extra runners for the long climb up the cliff.
Similarquickdraw
Note
- 24
- 25In cricket, a player who runs between the wickets for a batsman too hurt to run.
The injured batsman called for a runner before he kept playing.
A runner sprinted between the wickets so the limping batsman could keep scoring.
Note
- 26A person paid by a casino or betting business to find new customers and bring them in.
The casino paid a runner to bring in high-spending guests.
He worked as a runner, steering tourists toward the card tables.
Similartout
Note
- 27In Australian rules football, a person who runs onto the field to carry the coach's messages to the players.
- 28A person working for a sports agent who tries to sign up new player clients.
- 29In poker, a player taking part in a tournament.
- 30On a cigarette, a line where it burns down one side too fast.
- 31A prisoner who is trusted and allowed more freedom.
In our prisons you might find a condemned man working as a runner, a trusty, which is about as far from segregation as you can get.
1959, Frederick S. Baldi, My Unwelcome Guests - 32A piece sewn under a shoe's upper part so that the sole may be glued on.
- 33A part that lets you slide something out of a machine to fix it.
- 34A metal ring on a horse's harness that a rein goes through.
- 35A channel in a mold that lets melted metal or plastic flow in.
- 36The stone in a mill that turns to grind grain against a fixed stone.
- 37The part that slides up an umbrella's stick to open it.
- 38A tool that holds lenses while they are polished.
- 39The rainbow runner, a fast fish of warm seas that jumps out of the water.
- 40A rope used to make a pulley system pull harder.
- 41A tiny river or brook.
- 42A boat that carries a catch of fish or oysters to sell.
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English rennere, made from the verb "run" plus "-er".