Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Runner

Run′ner

,
Noun.
[From
Run
.]
1.
One who, or that which, runs; a racer.
2.
A detective.
[Slang, Eng.]
Dickens.
3.
A messenger.
Swift.
4.
A smuggler.
[Colloq.]
R. North.
5.
One employed to solicit patronage, as for a steamboat, hotel, shop, etc.
[Cant, U.S.]
6.
(Bot.)
A slender trailing branch which takes root at the joints or end and there forms new plants, as in the strawberry and the common cinquefoil.
7.
The rotating stone of a set of millstones.
8.
(Naut.)
A rope rove through a block and used to increase the mechanical power of a tackle.
Totten.
9.
One of the pieces on which a sled or sleigh slides; also the part or blade of a skate which slides on the ice.
10.
(Founding)
(a)
A horizontal channel in a mold, through which the metal flows to the cavity formed by the pattern; also, the waste metal left in such a channel.
(b)
A trough or channel for leading molten metal from a furnace to a ladle, mold, or pig bed.
11.
The movable piece to which the ribs of an umbrella are attached.
12.
(Zool.)
A food fish (
Elagatis pinnulatus
) of Florida and the West Indies; – called also
skipjack
,
shoemaker
, and
yellowtail
. The name alludes to its rapid successive leaps from the water.
13.
(Zool.)
Any cursorial bird.
14.
(Mech.)
(a)
A movable slab or rubber used in grinding or polishing a surface of stone.
(b)
A tool on which lenses are fastened in a group, for polishing or grinding.

Webster 1828 Edition


Runner

RUN'NER

,
Noun.
[from run.]
1.
One that runs; that which runs.
2.
A racer.
3.
A messenger.
4.
A shooting sprig.
In every root there will be one runner, with little buds on it.
5.
One of the stones of a mill.
6.
A bird.
7.
A thick rope used to increase the mechanical power of a tackle.

Definition 2024


runner

runner

English

Noun

runner (plural runners)

  1. Agent noun of run; somebody who runs.
    1. Somebody who moves at a fast pace.
      The first runner to cross the finish line wins the race.
    2. Somebody who controls or manages (e.g. a system).
      • 1998 June 12th, Daniel Jonathan Kirk (username), tipping competitions, in aus.legal, Usenet:
        [] at least half of which would be put into the pool for the winner, the rest kept for the runners of the system to cover costs and more than likely make a fair profit.
    3. (slang) An automobile.
      The car salesman told me that the used Volvo was a nice little runner.
  2. (slang) A quick escape away from a scene.
    He did a runner after robbing the drugstore.
  3. A type of soft-soled shoe originally intended for runners, compare trainer; a sneaker.
  4. A part of an apparatus that moves quickly.
    After the cycle completes, the runner travels back quickly to be in place for the next cycle.
  5. A mechanical part intended for wheels to run on or to slide against another surface.
  6. A strip of fabric used to decorate a table.
    The red runner makes the table so festive.
  7. A long, narrow carpet for a high traffic area such as a hall or stairs.
    How about we put down a clear runner in the front hall.
  8. (cricket) A player who runs for a batsman who is too injured to run; he is dressed exactly as the injured batsman, and carries a bat.
  9. (baseball, softball) A baserunner.
    The runner was out at second.
  10. (Australian rules football) A person (from one or the other team) who runs out onto the field during the game to take verbal instructions from the coach to the players. A runner mustn't interfere with play, and may have to wear an identifying shirt to make clear his or her purpose on the field.
  11. (slang) A part of a cigarette that is burning unevenly.
  12. (botany) A long stolon sent out by a plant (such as strawberry), in order to root new plantlets.
  13. (climbing) A short sling with a carabiner on either end, used to link the climbing rope to a bolt or other protection such as a nut or friend.
  14. (poker slang) A competitor in a poker tournament.
  15. A restaurant employee responsible for taking food from the kitchens to the tables.
  16. A leaping food fish (Elagatis pinnulatis) of Florida and the West Indies; the skipjack, shoemaker, or yellowtail.
  17. (sports slang) An employee of a sports agent who tries to recruit possible player clients for the agent.
    • Freeman, Mike (February 25, 2012), Runners' world: Union boss Smith's noble idea likely stuck at the start”, in (Please provide the title of the work), CBSSports.com, retrieved March 19, 2014
      This week hundreds of NFL agents gathered to hear an honorable man talk about a noble pipedream. It was a discussion about a significant step to end one of the cornerstones of corruption in college football: runners. Not the backs getting their 40 times tested at the scouting combine but the slimeball trolls who work on behalf of agents to help recruit — a generous word — football prospects by illegally giving them cash (or cars or money for family members or rent for a nice house) so the player then signs with the agent upon turning pro.
  18. (video games, rare) A speedrunner.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations


Spanish

Noun

runner m, f (plural runners)

  1. runner