run-down

[ruhn-doun] /ˈrʌnˈdaʊn/
adjective
1.
fatigued; weary; exhausted.
2.
in a state of poor health:
He was in a run-down condition from months of overwork.
3.
in neglected condition; fallen into disrepair:
a run-down house.
4.
(of a spring-operated device) not running because it is unwound.
Origin
1675-85; adj. use of verb phrase run down
Synonyms
3. seedy, tacky, shabby, deteriorated.

rundown

[ruhn-doun] /ˈrʌnˌdaʊn/
noun
1.
a quick review or summary of main points of information, usually oral:
This brief rundown of past events will bring you up to date.
2.
Baseball. a play in which a base runner is caught between bases by two or more players of the opposing team who toss the ball back and forth in an effort to tag the runner out.
3.
Commerce, runoff (def 4).
Origin
1905-10, Americanism; noun use of verb phrase run down
Examples from the web for rundown
  • Last year's price increases were triggered by poor crops and a rundown of government grain reserves.
  • Dad walked into the ring, the better to give the rundown on each horse or mule.
  • He tries to mix things up, hopping into a store and switching between taxis and the city's rundown tramway.
  • Here's a quick rundown of the must-watch games of the day:.
  • He leads the community in remodeling a rundown church and gains supporters as he seeks his own salvation.
  • With summer now in full swing, it is a good time for a rundown of regional hot-dog styles, and some prime places to get them.
  • Following is a rundown of some of its major features.
  • It was considered a modern solution to rundown, overcrowded jails of the postwar era, some of which were in ancient buildings.
British Dictionary definitions for rundown

run down

verb (mainly adverb)
1.
to cause or allow (an engine, battery, etc) to lose power gradually and cease to function or (of an engine, battery, etc) to do this
2.
to decline or reduce in number or size: the firm ran down its sales force
3.
(transitive, usually passive) to tire, sap the strength of, or exhaust: he was thoroughly run down and needed a holiday
4.
(transitive) to criticize adversely; denigrate; decry
5.
(transitive) to hit and knock to the ground with a moving vehicle
6.
(nautical)
  1. (transitive) to collide with and cause to sink
  2. (intransitive, preposition) to navigate so as to move parallel to (a coast)
7.
(transitive) to pursue and find or capture: to run down a fugitive
8.
(transitive) to read swiftly or perfunctorily: he ran down their list of complaints
adjective
9.
tired; exhausted
10.
worn-out, shabby, or dilapidated
noun
11.
a brief review, résumé, or summary
12.
the process of a motor or mechanism coming gradually to a standstill after the source of power is removed
13.
a reduction in number or size
Word Origin and History for rundown
n.

in baseball, 1908, from verbal phrase, from run (v.) + down (adv.). Meaning "list of entries in a horse race and the odds" is from 1935; slang generalized sense of "summary, account, list of information or facts" is from 1945.

run-down

adj.

1866, of persons, with reference to health, from verbal phrase, from run (v.) + down (adv.). From 1896 of places; 1894 of clocks. Earliest sense is "oppressed" (1680s).

Slang definitions & phrases for rundown

rundown

noun

A summary or account: a brief rundown of what happened (1945+)