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run·ner (rŭnər)
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n.
1.
a. Sports One who runs, as for exercise or in a race.
b. Baseball One who runs the bases.
c. Football One who carries the ball.
d. See flat1.
2. A fugitive: a runner from justice.
3.
a. One who carries messages or runs errands.
b. One who serves as an agent or collector, as for a bank or brokerage house.
c. One who solicits business, as for a hotel or store.
4.
a. A smuggler: a narcotics runner.
b. A vessel engaged in smuggling.
5. One who operates or manages something: the runner of a series of gambling operations.
6. A device in or on which something slides or moves, as:
a. The blade of a skate.
b. The supports on which a drawer slides.
7.
a. A long narrow rug.
b. A long narrow tablecloth.
8. Metallurgy A channel along which molten metal is poured into a mold; a gate.
9. Botany
a. See stolon.
b. A twining bean plant, such as the scarlet runner.
10. Either of two fast-swimming marine fishes of the family Carangidae, the blue runner (Caranx crysos) of Atlantic waters, or the rainbow runner (Elagatis bipinnulata) of tropical and subtropical waters worldwide.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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