# running

Pronunciation: say "RUN-ing" /ˈɹʌniŋ/

## Verb

1. Present participle and gerund of run. — present participle and gerund of run
   - Simple: Present participle and gerund of run. Use it after words like is or was, or to name the action itself.
   - _Water was running down the windowpane all night._
   - _Running a small business takes more patience than money._

## Noun

2. The activity of moving quickly on foot, whether as exercise, as a competitive sport, or for any other reason.
   - Simple: Moving fast on foot, done as exercise, as a sport, or just for fun.
   - _Running has grown into one of the most popular forms of exercise in the country._
   - _Her years of competitive running ended with a knee injury in college._
3. The action of the verb to run, in any of its senses, such as moving quickly, flowing, or operating.
   - Simple: The act of moving, flowing, or working, in any way the verb run describes.
   - _Responsibility for the day-to-day running of the hotel passed to the eldest daughter._
   - _Quiet running was the new engine's main selling point._
10. The act of going from place to place to carry out errands. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Going from place to place to do small jobs, like shopping or picking things up.
   - _Saturday's running took her to the pharmacy, the post office, and the dry cleaner._
   - _He does most of the family's running now that his mother can't drive._
13. Liquid that flows from a source, or the quantity of liquid that flows during a given time or operation.
   - Simple: The liquid that flows out of something, or the amount that flows in a set time.
   - _The running from the cider press filled two forty-gallon barrels by evening._
   - _The night's running from the tapped maples was hauled to the sugarhouse at dawn._
18. The fluid discharged from an ulcer or other sore that has not healed.
   - Simple: The liquid that comes out of a sore that has not healed.
   - _The nurse changed the dressing twice a day to absorb the running from the ulcer._
   - _After a week of treatment, the running from the wound had nearly stopped._
19. The variation of a measured physical quantity, especially a coupling constant, with the energy scale at which it is measured, arising from higher-order interaction effects.
   - Simple: The way a number scientists measure changes when they test it with more and more energy.
   - _The running of the strong coupling means quarks interact more weakly at extremely high energies._
   - _Measurements at particle colliders have confirmed the predicted running of the fine-structure constant._

## Adjective

4. Continuous or ongoing; kept up steadily, step by step, as events unfold.
   - Simple: Going on all the time, without a stop or a break.
   - _The senator's aide kept a running tally of the votes as they came in._
   - _Their running feud over the property line lasted a decade._
5. Belonging to the present time; current.
   - Simple: Happening now and belonging to the present time.
   - _Interest is calculated on the balance for the running month._
   - _The report covers the running quarter, not the one just closed._
6. Flowing and easy; of handwriting, cursive, with the letters joined in a continuous line.
   - Simple: Smooth and flowing, or in handwriting, with the letters joined together.
   - _The old deed was written in a fine running hand._
   - _His prose has a running ease that carries the reader along._
7. Moving or advancing at a run, or performed while moving at a run.
   - Simple: Done while moving fast on foot.
   - _The long jumper builds speed with a running approach down the strip._
   - _The receiver made a running catch near the sideline._
9. Having a design or pattern that continues unbroken along a length or around a surface.
   - Simple: Having a pattern that goes along without a break.
   - _The frieze carries a running motif of vines and grapes._
   - _A running Greek-key border frames the mosaic floor._
11. Discharging snot or mucus, as a nose during a cold or allergy.
   - Simple: Dripping liquid, like a nose when you have a cold.
   - _She kept tissues handy for her running nose all through flu season._
   - _His allergies left him sneezing, with running eyes by lunchtime._
12. Consecutive; following one immediately after another without a break, as in a series of days, games, or events.
   - Simple: Coming one right after another, with no break in between.
   - _The choir performed on five running nights during the festival._
   - _Three running victories put the club at the top of the standings._
15. Of a horse, galloping rather than trotting or pacing; not a trotter or pacer.
   - Simple: Describing a horse that gallops in races, not one that trots.
   - _The afternoon card featured running horses, with the trotters scheduled for evening._
   - _Quarter Horses were first bred as running horses for short, explosive races._
16. Of a plant, extending by a slender stem that climbs or trails.
   - Simple: Growing with a long thin stem that climbs or trails along the ground.
   - _Running blackberry spreads quickly across cleared ground._
   - _The running stems of the strawberry plants rooted wherever they touched soil._
17. Discharging pus, as an infected sore or wound that has not healed.
   - Simple: Leaking pus, the thick liquid that comes from an infected sore.
   - _The running sore on his ankle refused to heal despite weeks of care._
   - _Left untreated, the blister became a running wound._

## Adverb

8. Consecutively; one after another in unbroken succession. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: One after another, with no break in between.
   - _The festival sold out for the fifth year running._
   - _She has topped the sales charts three quarters running._

## Preposition

14. Approaching or roughly equal to; used informally before a stated measurement, age, or amount. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: About or close to a number, used in casual talk about sizes or amounts.
   - _The guide promised lake trout running ten pounds or better._
   - _She took over the shop from her aunt, a sharp woman running seventy._

## Origin

Formed from "run" combined with the suffix "-ing".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/running (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).