To run riot

To run riot
Run Run, v. i. [imp. {Ran}or {Run}; p. p. {Run}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Running}.] [OE. rinnen, rennen (imp. ran, p. p. runnen, ronnen). AS. rinnan to flow (imp. ran, p. p. gerunnen), and iernan, irnan, to run (imp. orn, arn, earn, p. p. urnen); akin to D. runnen, rennen, OS. & OHG. rinnan, G. rinnen, rennen, Icel. renna, rinna, Sw. rinna, r["a]nna, Dan. rinde, rende, Goth. rinnan, and perh. to L. oriri to rise, Gr. ? to stir up, rouse, Skr. ? (cf. {Origin}), or perh. to L. rivus brook (cf. {Rival}). [root]11. Cf. {Ember}, a., {Rennet}.] 1. To move, proceed, advance, pass, go, come, etc., swiftly, smoothly, or with quick action; -- said of things animate or inanimate. Hence, to flow, glide, or roll onward, as a stream, a snake, a wagon, etc.; to move by quicker action than in walking, as a person, a horse, a dog. Specifically: [1913 Webster]

2. Of voluntary or personal action: (a) To go swiftly; to pass at a swift pace; to hasten. [1913 Webster]

``Ha, ha, the fox!'' and after him they ran. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] (b) To flee, as from fear or danger. [1913 Webster]

As from a bear a man would run for life. --Shak. [1913 Webster] (c) To steal off; to depart secretly. [1913 Webster] (d) To contend in a race; hence, to enter into a contest; to become a candidate; as, to run for Congress. [1913 Webster]

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. --1 Cor. ix. 24. [1913 Webster] (e) To pass from one state or condition to another; to come into a certain condition; -- often with in or into; as, to run into evil practices; to run in debt. [1913 Webster]

Have I not cause to rave and beat my breast, to rend my heart with grief and run distracted? --Addison. [1913 Webster] (f) To exert continuous activity; to proceed; as, to run through life; to run in a circle. (g) To pass or go quickly in thought or conversation; as, to run from one subject to another. [1913 Webster]

Virgil, in his first Georgic, has run into a set of precepts foreign to his subject. --Addison. [1913 Webster] (h) To discuss; to continue to think or speak about something; -- with on. (i) To make numerous drafts or demands for payment, as upon a bank; -- with on. (j) To creep, as serpents. [1913 Webster]

3. Of involuntary motion: (a) To flow, as a liquid; to ascend or descend; to course; as, rivers run to the sea; sap runs up in the spring; her blood ran cold. (b) To proceed along a surface; to extend; to spread. [1913 Webster]

The fire ran along upon the ground. --Ex. ix. 23. [1913 Webster] (c) To become fluid; to melt; to fuse. [1913 Webster]

As wax dissolves, as ice begins to run. --Addison. [1913 Webster]

Sussex iron ores run freely in the fire. --Woodward. [1913 Webster] (d) To turn, as a wheel; to revolve on an axis or pivot; as, a wheel runs swiftly round. (e) To travel; to make progress; to be moved by mechanical means; to go; as, the steamboat runs regularly to Albany; the train runs to Chicago. (f) To extend; to reach; as, the road runs from Philadelphia to New York; the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. [1913 Webster]

She saw with joy the line immortal run, Each sire impressed, and glaring in his son. --Pope. [1913 Webster] (g) To go back and forth from place to place; to ply; as, the stage runs between the hotel and the station. (h) To make progress; to proceed; to pass. [1913 Webster]

As fast as our time runs, we should be very glad in most part of our lives that it ran much faster. --Addison. [1913 Webster] (i) To continue in operation; to be kept in action or motion; as, this engine runs night and day; the mill runs six days in the week. [1913 Webster]

When we desire anything, our minds run wholly on the good circumstances of it; when it is obtained, our minds run wholly on the bad ones. --Swift. [1913 Webster] (j) To have a course or direction; as, a line runs east and west. [1913 Webster]

Where the generally allowed practice runs counter to it. --Locke. [1913 Webster]

Little is the wisdom, where the flight So runs against all reason. --Shak. [1913 Webster] (k) To be in form thus, as a combination of words. [1913 Webster]

The king's ordinary style runneth, ``Our sovereign lord the king.'' --Bp. Sanderson. [1913 Webster] (l) To be popularly known; to be generally received. [1913 Webster]

Men gave them their own names, by which they run a great while in Rome. --Sir W. Temple. [1913 Webster]

Neither was he ignorant what report ran of himself. --Knolles. [1913 Webster] (m) To have growth or development; as, boys and girls run up rapidly. [1913 Webster]

If the richness of the ground cause turnips to run to leaves. --Mortimer. [1913 Webster] (n) To tend, as to an effect or consequence; to incline. [1913 Webster]

A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]

Temperate climates run into moderate governments. --Swift. [1913 Webster] (o) To spread and blend together; to unite; as, colors run in washing. [1913 Webster]

In the middle of a rainbow the colors are . . . distinguished, but near the borders they run into one another. --I. Watts. [1913 Webster] (p) To have a legal course; to be attached; to continue in force, effect, or operation; to follow; to go in company; as, certain covenants run with the land. [1913 Webster]

Customs run only upon our goods imported or exported, and that but once for all; whereas interest runs as well upon our ships as goods, and must be yearly paid. --Sir J. Child. [1913 Webster] (q) To continue without falling due; to hold good; as, a note has thirty days to run. (r) To discharge pus or other matter; as, an ulcer runs. (s) To be played on the stage a number of successive days or nights; as, the piece ran for six months. (t) (Naut.) To sail before the wind, in distinction from reaching or sailing closehauled; -- said of vessels. [1913 Webster]

4. Specifically, of a horse: To move rapidly in a gait in which each leg acts in turn as a propeller and a supporter, and in which for an instant all the limbs are gathered in the air under the body. --Stillman (The Horse in Motion). [1913 Webster]

5. (Athletics) To move rapidly by springing steps so that there is an instant in each step when neither foot touches the ground; -- so distinguished from walking in athletic competition. [1913 Webster]

{As things run}, according to the usual order, conditions, quality, etc.; on the average; without selection or specification.

{To let run} (Naut.), to allow to pass or move freely; to slacken or loosen.

{To run after}, to pursue or follow; to search for; to endeavor to find or obtain; as, to run after similes. --Locke.

{To run away}, to flee; to escape; to elope; to run without control or guidance.

{To run away with}. (a) To convey away hurriedly; to accompany in escape or elopement. (b) To drag rapidly and with violence; as, a horse runs away with a carriage.

{To run down}. (a) To cease to work or operate on account of the exhaustion of the motive power; -- said of clocks, watches, etc. (b) To decline in condition; as, to run down in health.

{To run down a coast}, to sail along it.

{To run for an office}, to stand as a candidate for an office.

{To run in} or {To run into}. (a) To enter; to step in. (b) To come in collision with.

{To run into} To meet, by chance; as, I ran into my brother at the grocery store.

{To run in trust}, to run in debt; to get credit. [Obs.]

{To run in with}. (a) To close; to comply; to agree with. [R.] --T. Baker. (b) (Naut.) To make toward; to near; to sail close to; as, to run in with the land.

{To run mad}, {To run mad after} or {To run mad on}. See under {Mad}.

{To run on}. (a) To be continued; as, their accounts had run on for a year or two without a settlement. (b) To talk incessantly. (c) To continue a course. (d) To press with jokes or ridicule; to abuse with sarcasm; to bear hard on. (e) (Print.) To be continued in the same lines, without making a break or beginning a new paragraph.

{To run out}. (a) To come to an end; to expire; as, the lease runs out at Michaelmas. (b) To extend; to spread. ``Insectile animals . . . run all out into legs.'' --Hammond. (c) To expatiate; as, to run out into beautiful digressions. (d) To be wasted or exhausted; to become poor; to become extinct; as, an estate managed without economy will soon run out. [1913 Webster]

And had her stock been less, no doubt She must have long ago run out. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

{To run over}. (a) To overflow; as, a cup runs over, or the liquor runs over. (b) To go over, examine, or rehearse cursorily. (c) To ride or drive over; as, to run over a child.

{To run riot}, to go to excess.

{To run through}. (a) To go through hastily; as to run through a book. (b) To spend wastefully; as, to run through an estate.

{To run to seed}, to expend or exhaust vitality in producing seed, as a plant; figuratively and colloquially, to cease growing; to lose vital force, as the body or mind.

{To run up}, to rise; to swell; to grow; to increase; as, accounts of goods credited run up very fast. [1913 Webster]

But these, having been untrimmed for many years, had run up into great bushes, or rather dwarf trees. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]

{To run with}. (a) To be drenched with, so that streams flow; as, the streets ran with blood. (b) To flow while charged with some foreign substance. ``Its rivers ran with gold.'' --J. H. Newman. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • run riot — {v. phr.} 1. To act freely or wildly; not control yourself. * /The monkey got out of his cage and ran riot in the pet shop./ * /John let his imagination run riot, thinking he was hunting lions in Africa./ 2. To be or grow in great numbers or… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • run riot — {v. phr.} 1. To act freely or wildly; not control yourself. * /The monkey got out of his cage and ran riot in the pet shop./ * /John let his imagination run riot, thinking he was hunting lions in Africa./ 2. To be or grow in great numbers or… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • run riot — ► run riot 1) behave in a violent and unrestrained way. 2) proliferate or spread uncontrollably. Main Entry: ↑riot …   English terms dictionary

  • run riot — index brawl Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • run riot — 1. if people run riot, they behave in a way that is not controlled, running in all directions or being noisy or violent. I dread them coming round because they let their kids run riot. 2. if your imagination runs riot, you have a lot of strange,… …   New idioms dictionary

  • run riot — 1 the children ran riot: (GO ON THE) RAMPAGE, riot, run amok, go berserk, go out of control; informal raise hell. 2 the vegetation has run riot: GROW PROFUSELY, spread uncontrolled, grow rapidly, spread like wildfire; burgeon, multiply, rocket. → …   Useful english dictionary

  • run\ riot — v. phr. 1. To act freely or wildly; not control yourself. The monkey got out of his cage and ran riot in the pet shop. John let his imagination run riot, thinking he was hunting lions in Africa. 2. To be or grow in great numbers or large amounts …   Словарь американских идиом

  • run riot — 1) the children ran riot Syn: go on the rampage, rampage, riot, run amok, go berserk, go out of control; informal raise hell 2) the vegetation has run riot Syn: grow profusely, spread uncontrolled, grow rapidly, spread like wildfire; …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • run riot —    If people run riot, the behave in a frenzied, uncontrolled manner, running around in all directions.     I dread the arrival of my sister with her kids she always allows them to run riot …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • To run riot — Riot Ri ot, n. [OF. riote, of uncertain origin; cf. OD. revot, ravot.] 1. Wanton or unrestrained behavior; uproar; tumult. [1913 Webster] His headstrong riot hath no curb. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. Excessive and exxpensive feasting; wild and loose… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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