runner

[ ruhn-er ]

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.

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
18. do a runner slang.
    to run away in order to escape trouble or to avoid paying for something

runner

/ rŭn′ər /

1. A slender stem that grows horizontally and puts down roots to form new plants. Strawberries spread by runners.
2. Also called stolon
3. Compare bulb

Word History and Origins

Origin of runner¹

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; run, -er ¹

Example Sentences

For the last decade, Mr John has championed a form of hunting that sees a human runner - rather than a fox - chased, he told BBC Wales Live.

From BBC

As a female runner, it almost feels normal.

From BBC

In the bottom of the seventh inning with a runner on second in a tie game, Herbert hit a slow ground ball on what should have been a routine play.

From Los Angeles Times

While she was trying to call the police a runner and another cyclist stopped to say they too had been threatened by the man.

From BBC

He was a runner, skier and long-distance biker when he was younger, and is in relatively good shape today but for a heart condition and “two bad knees and shoulders.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• contestant
• entrant
• hurdler
• marathoner
• racer
• sprinter