- The run of the mill
- Run Run, n.
1. The act of running; as, a long run; a good run; a quick
run; to go on the run.
[1913 Webster]
2. A small stream; a brook; a creek. [1913 Webster]
3. That which runs or flows in the course of a certain operation, or during a certain time; as, a run of must in wine making; the first run of sap in a maple orchard. [1913 Webster]
4. A course; a series; that which continues in a certain course or series; as, a run of good or bad luck. [1913 Webster]
They who made their arrangements in the first run of misadventure . . . put a seal on their calamities. --Burke. [1913 Webster]
5. State of being current; currency; popularity. [1913 Webster]
It is impossible for detached papers to have a general run, or long continuance, if not diversified with humor. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
6. Continued repetition on the stage; -- said of a play; as, to have a run of a hundred successive nights. [1913 Webster]
A canting, mawkish play . . . had an immense run. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
7. A continuing urgent demand; especially, a pressure on a bank or treasury for payment of its notes. [1913 Webster]
8. A range or extent of ground for feeding stock; as, a sheep run. --Howitt. [1913 Webster]
9. (Naut.) (a) The aftermost part of a vessel's hull where it narrows toward the stern, under the quarter. (b) The distance sailed by a ship; as, a good run; a run of fifty miles. (c) A voyage; as, a run to China. [1913 Webster]
10. A pleasure excursion; a trip. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
I think of giving her a run in London. --Dickens. [1913 Webster]
11. (Mining) The horizontal distance to which a drift may be carried, either by license of the proprietor of a mine or by the nature of the formation; also, the direction which a vein of ore or other substance takes. [1913 Webster]
12. (Mus.) A roulade, or series of running tones. [1913 Webster]
13. (Mil.) The greatest degree of swiftness in marching. It is executed upon the same principles as the double-quick, but with greater speed. [1913 Webster]
14. The act of migrating, or ascending a river to spawn; -- said of fish; also, an assemblage or school of fishes which migrate, or ascend a river for the purpose of spawning. [1913 Webster]
15. (Sport) In baseball, a complete circuit of the bases made by a player, which enables him to score one point; also, the point thus scored; in cricket, a passing from one wicket to the other, by which one point is scored; as, a player made three runs; the side went out with two hundred runs; the Yankees scored three runs in the seventh inning. [1913 Webster +PJC]
The ``runs'' are made from wicket to wicket, the batsmen interchanging ends at each run. --R. A. Proctor. [1913 Webster]
16. A pair or set of millstones. [1913 Webster]
17. (Piquet, Cribbage, etc.) A number of cards of the same suit in sequence; as, a run of four in hearts. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
18. (Golf) (a) The movement communicated to a golf ball by running. (b) The distance a ball travels after touching the ground from a stroke. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
{At the long run}, now, commonly, {In the long run}, in or during the whole process or course of things taken together; in the final result; in the end; finally. [1913 Webster]
[Man] starts the inferior of the brute animals, but he surpasses them in the long run. --J. H. Newman. [1913 Webster]
{Home run}. (a) A running or returning toward home, or to the point from which the start was made. Cf. {Home stretch}. (b) (Baseball) See under {Home}.
{The run}, or {The common run}, or {The run of the mill} etc., ordinary persons; the generality or average of people or things; also, that which ordinarily occurs; ordinary current, course, or kind. [1913 Webster +PJC]
I saw nothing else that is superior to the common run of parks. --Walpole. [1913 Webster]
Burns never dreamed of looking down on others as beneath him, merely because he was conscious of his own vast superiority to the common run of men. --Prof. Wilson. [1913 Webster]
His whole appearance was something out of the common run. --W. Irving. [1913 Webster]
{To let go by the run} (Naut.), to loosen and let run freely, as lines; to let fall without restraint, as a sail. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
