31 VERB If an amount is running at a particular level, it is at that level. □ [V + at ] Today's RPI figure shows inflation running at 10.9 per cent.
32 VERB If a play, event, or legal contract runs for a particular period of time, it lasts for that period of time. □ [V + for ] It pleased critics but ran for only three years in the West End. □ [V prep] The contract was to run from 1992 to 2020. □ [V ] I predict it will run and run.
33 VERB [usu cont] If someone or something is running late, they have taken more time than had been planned. If they are running to time or ahead of time, they have taken the time planned or less than the time planned. □ [V adv/prep] Tell her I'll call her back later, I'm running late again.
34 VERB If you are running a temperature or a fever, you have a high temperature because you are ill. □ [V n] The little girl is running a fever and she needs help.
35 N‑COUNT A run of a play or television programme is the period of time during which performances are given or programmes are shown. □ The Globe begins a two-month run of the Bard of Avon's most famous and enduring love story.
36 N‑SING A run of successes or failures is a series of successes or failures. □ [+ of ] The England skipper is haunted by a run of low scores.
37 N‑COUNT A run of a product is the amount that a company or factory decides to produce at one time. □ Wayne plans to increase the print run to 1,000.
38 N‑COUNT In cricket or baseball, a run is a score of one, which is made by players running between marked places on the field after hitting the ball. □ At 20 he became the youngest player to score 2,000 runs in a season.
39 N‑SING If someone gives you the run of a place, they give you permission to go where you like in it and use it as you wish. □ [+ of ] He had the run of the house and the pool.
40 N‑SING If there is a run on something, a lot of people want to buy it or get it at the same time. □ [+ on ] A run on sterling has killed off hopes of a rate cut.
41 N‑COUNT [usu n N ] A ski run or bobsleigh run is a course or route that has been designed for skiing or for riding in a bobsleigh.
42 → see also running , dummy run , test run , trial run
43 PHRASE If something happens against the run of play or against the run of events, it is different from what is generally happening in a game or situation. [BRIT ] □ The decisive goal arrived against the run of play.
44 PHRASE If you run someone close , run them a close second , or run a close second , you almost beat them in a race or competition. □ We played a top side on Sunday and ran them close.
45 PHRASE If a river or well runs dry , it no longer has any water in it. If an oil well runs dry , it no longer produces any oil. □ Streams had run dry for the first time in memory.
46 PHRASE If a source of information or money runs dry , no more information or money can be obtained from it. □ Three days into production, the kitty had run dry.
47 PHRASE If a characteristic runs in someone's family , it often occurs in members of that family, in different generations. □ The insanity which ran in his family haunted him.
48 PHRASE If you make a run for it or if you run for it , you run away in order to escape from someone or something. □ A helicopter hovered overhead as one of the gang made a run for it.
49 PHRASE If people's feelings are running high , they are very angry, concerned, or excited. □ Feelings there have been running high in the wake of last week's killing.
50 PHRASE If you talk about what will happen in the long run , you are saying what you think will happen over a long period of time in the future. If you talk about what will happen in the short run , you are saying what you think will happen in the near future. □ Sometimes expensive drugs or other treatments can be economical in the long run. □ In fact, things could get worse in the short run.
51 PHRASE If you say that someone would run a mile if faced with something, you mean that they are very frightened of it and would try to avoid it. □ Yasmin admits she would run a mile if Mark asked her out.
52 PHRASE If you say that someone could give someone else a run for their money , you mean you think they are almost as good as the other person. □ If he's my chief opposition, I can give him a run for his money.
53 PHRASE If someone is on the run , they are trying to escape or hide from someone such as the police or an enemy. □ Fifteen-year-old Danny is on the run from a local authority home.
54 PHRASE If someone is on the run , they are being severely defeated in a contest or competition. □ His opponents believe he is definitely on the run.
55 PHRASE If you say that a person or group is running scared , you mean that they are frightened of what someone might do to them or what might happen. □ The administration is running scared.
56 PHRASE If you are running short of something or running low on something, you do not have much of it left. If a supply of something is running short or running low , there is not much of it left. □ Government forces are running short of ammunition and fuel. □ We are running low on drinking water.
57 to run amok → see amok
58 to make your blood run cold → see blood
59 to run counter to something → see counter