runner

[ruhn-er] /ˈrʌn ər/
noun
1.
a person, animal, or thing that runs, especially as a racer.
2.
a messenger.
3.
a messenger of a bank or brokerage house.
4.
Baseball. base runner.
5.
Football. the ball-carrier.
6.
a person whose business it is to solicit patronage or trade.
7.
a person acting as collector, agent, or the like, for a bank, broker, etc.
8.
something in or on which something else runs or moves.
9.
either of the long, bladelike strips of metal or wood on which a sled or sleigh slides.
10.
the blade of an ice skate.
11.
the rotating system of blades driven by the fluid passing through a reaction turbine.
12.
the rotating member of a pair of millstones.
Compare bed stone.
13.
a roller on which something moves along.
14.
Furniture.
  1. a sliding piece, as a loper.
  2. rocker (def 1).
15.
an operator or manager, as of a machine.
16.
a long, narrow rug, suitable for a hall or passageway.
17.
a long, narrow strip of line, embroidery, lace, or the like, placed across a table.
18.
Botany.
  1. a slender stolon that runs along the surface of the ground and sends out roots and leaves at the nodes, as in the strawberry.
  2. a plant that spreads by such stems.
19.
Metallurgy. any of the channels through which molten metal flows.
20.
a smuggler.
21.
a vessel engaged in smuggling.
22.
a person who takes, transmits, and often pays off bets for a bookmaker or a numbers pool.
23.
Ichthyology. a jurel, Caranx crysos, inhabiting waters from Cape Cod to Brazil.
24.
Building Trades. a horizontal longitudinal timber resting upon the uprights of a staging and supporting the footing pieces.
25.
Theater. a piece of carpet or matting placed in the wings for deadening offstage sounds.
26.
a tackle or part of a tackle consisting of a line rove through a single block and fixed at one end.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English; see run, -er1
Examples from the web for runner
  • The feet of a ballet dancer, a long distance runner, a place kicker.
  • Create a merry scene along your dinner table runner.
  • One yellow star for a runner, and rows of blue stars for more runners, keep a line of watchers.
  • No runner tracks in this year's snow looped near it.
  • However, as a motivator, money is not a bad runner-up.
  • To get both seats, a party or coalition must get double the vote of the runner-up.
  • Some indebted businessmen have done a runner, abandoning their homes and firms rather than parting with their pound of flesh.
  • The runner who would break the tape would need more than strong muscles, heart and lungs.
  • It's the opposite of what one would expect from the runner first off the block.
  • According to one story, it began when a runner lost his loincloth and tripped on it.
British Dictionary definitions for runner

runner

/ˈrʌnə/
noun
1.
a person who runs, esp an athlete
2.
a messenger for a bank or brokerage firm
3.
an employee of an art or antique dealer who visits auctions to bid on desired lots
4.
a person engaged in the solicitation of business
5.
a person on the run; fugitive
6.
  1. a person or vessel engaged in smuggling; smuggler
  2. (in combination): a rum-runner
7.
a person who operates, manages, or controls something
8.
  1. either of the strips of metal or wood on which a sledge runs
  2. the blade of an ice skate
9.
a roller or guide for a sliding component
10.
a channel through which molten material enters a casting or moulding
11.
the rotating element of a water turbine
12.
another name for running belay
13.
any of various carangid fishes of temperate and tropical seas, such as Caranx crysos (blue runner) of American Atlantic waters
14.
(botany)
  1. a slender stem with very long internodes, as of the strawberry, that arches down to the ground and propagates by producing roots and shoots at the nodes or tip
  2. a plant that propagates in this way
15.
a strip of lace, linen, etc, placed across a table, dressing table, etc for protection and decoration
16.
a narrow rug or carpet, as for a passage
17.
another word for rocker (sense 3)
18.
(slang) do a runner, to run away in order to escape trouble or to avoid paying for something
Word Origin and History for runner
n.

c.1300, "messenger on foot," agent noun from run (v.). Meaning "one who runs" is early 14c. Meaning "smuggler" first recorded 1721; sense of "police officer" is from 1771. Meaning "rooting stem of a plant" is from 1660s; that of "embroidered cloth for a table" is from 1888.

runner in Science
runner
(rŭn'ər)
A slender stem that grows horizontally and puts down roots to form new plants. Strawberries spread by runners. Also called stolon. Compare bulb, corm, rhizome, tuber.

Slang definitions & phrases for runner

runner

noun
  1. A messenger
  2. A deliverer of illegal drugs or other contraband
Related Terms

front runner, ridge-runner


Encyclopedia Article for runner

any of certain species of fishes in the family Carangidae (order Perciformes), which also includes the jacks, amberjacks, and pompanos. The blue runner (Caranx crysos) is a shiny, greenish or bluish fish of the Atlantic. Like others in the family, blue runners have deeply forked tails. They are popular game fish that reach lengths of 60 cm (2 feet)

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