RUNNER

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does runner mean? 

• RUNNER (noun)
  The noun RUNNER has 10 senses:

1. someone who imports or exports without paying duties

2. someone who travels on foot by running

3. a person who is employed to deliver messages or documents

4. a baseball player on the team at bat who is on base (or attempting to reach a base)

5. a horizontal branch from the base of plant that produces new plants from buds at its tips

6. a trained athlete who competes in foot races

7. (football) the player who is carrying (and trying to advance) the ball on an offensive play

8. a long narrow carpet

9. device consisting of the parts on which something can slide along

10. fish of western Atlantic: Cape Cod to Brazil

  Familiarity information: RUNNER used as a noun is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RUNNER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who imports or exports without paying duties

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

contrabandist; moon-curser; moon curser; runner; smuggler

Hypernyms ("runner" is a kind of...):

criminal; crook; felon; malefactor; outlaw (someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "runner"):

coyote (someone who smuggles illegal immigrants into the United States (usually across the Mexican border))

arms-runner; gunrunner (a smuggler of guns)

rumrunner (someone who illegally smuggles liquor across a border)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who travels on foot by running

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("runner" is a kind of...):

traveler; traveller (a person who changes location)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "runner"):

jogger (someone who runs a steady slow pace (usually for exercise))

Derivation:

run (move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A person who is employed to deliver messages or documents

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

he sent a runner over with the contract

Hypernyms ("runner" is a kind of...):

courier; messenger (a person who carries a message)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A baseball player on the team at bat who is on base (or attempting to reach a base)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

base runner; runner

Hypernyms ("runner" is a kind of...):

ballplayer; baseball player (an athlete who plays baseball)

Domain category:

ball; baseball; baseball game (a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A horizontal branch from the base of plant that produces new plants from buds at its tips

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

offset; runner; stolon

Hypernyms ("runner" is a kind of...):

plant organ (a functional and structural unit of a plant or fungus)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A trained athlete who competes in foot races

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("runner" is a kind of...):

athlete; jock (a person trained to compete in sports)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "runner"):

long-distance runner; marathon runner; marathoner; road runner (someone who participates in long-distance races (especially in marathons))

miler (a runner in a one-mile race)

sprinter (someone who runs a short distance at top speed)

Derivation:

run (compete in a race)

Sense 7

Meaning:

(football) the player who is carrying (and trying to advance) the ball on an offensive play

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

ball carrier; runner

Hypernyms ("runner" is a kind of...):

football player; footballer (an athlete who plays American football)

Domain category:

football; football game (any of various games played with a ball (round or oval) in which two teams try to kick or carry or propel the ball into each other's goal)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "runner"):

forward passer; passer ((football) a ball carrier who tries to gain ground by throwing a forward pass)

rusher ((football) a ball carrier who tries to gain ground by running with the ball)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A long narrow carpet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("runner" is a kind of...):

carpet; carpeting; rug (floor covering consisting of a piece of thick heavy fabric (usually with nap or pile))

Sense 9

Meaning:

Device consisting of the parts on which something can slide along

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("runner" is a kind of...):

device (an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "runner"):

blade (the part of the skate that slides on the ice)

ski (narrow wood or metal or plastic runners used in pairs for gliding over snow)

Holonyms ("runner" is a part of...):

sled; sledge; sleigh (a vehicle mounted on runners and pulled by horses or dogs; for transportation over snow)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Fish of western Atlantic: Cape Cod to Brazil

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

blue runner; Caranx crysos; runner

Hypernyms ("runner" is a kind of...):

jack (any of several fast-swimming predacious fishes of tropical to warm temperate seas)

 Context examples 

A third time the attempt was made, but this time, following the advice, Hal broke out the runners which had been frozen to the snow.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Along this I could perhaps hold my own, for I was a fast runner, and in excellent condition.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The plant spreads rapidly by means of runners or from the prodigous seed production.

(Hypericum perforatum, NCI Thesaurus)

The team included top runners and Olympic champions.

(Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya runs marathon under two hours, Wikinews)

He was a good runner, swifter than any puppy of his size, and swifter than Lip-lip.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

During all this time Harrison lived half demented, expecting every hour to feel the hand of a Bow Street runner upon his collar, and to be tried for his life.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Ben's a good runner; few seamen run better than Ben. He should run him down, hand over hand, by the powers!

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

It is a good way round from the West Cliff by the Drawbridge to Tate Hill Pier, but your correspondent is a fairly good runner, and came well ahead of the crowd.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Some scientists believe the first fliers were tree-dwelling dinosaurs who could parachute and glide before they could fly, while some say flight grew up from the ground, from runners.

(Scientific study suggests dinosaurs flapped their wings as they ran, Wikinews)

The plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae (formerly Leguminosae) used for human food or animal feed, including the genus Phaseolus (common bean and runner bean), and Vigna.

(Bean, NCI Thesaurus)