running

noun, adjective noun [U] 1 the action or sport of running: to go / take up running * running shoes 2 the activity of managing or operating sth: the day-to-day running of a business * the running costs of a car (for example of fuel, repairs, insurance) 3 (-running) (in compounds) the activity of bringing sth such as drugs, guns, etc. into a country secretly and illegally: drug-running * gunrunning IDIOMS in / out of the running (for sth) (informal) having some/no chance of succeeding or achieving sth make the running (BrE, informal) to set the speed at which sth is done; to take the lead in doing sth

1 used after a number and a noun such as 'year' 'day' or 'time', to say that sth has happened in the same way several times, without a change: She's won the championship three years running. * It was the third day running that the train had been late. * No party has won an election four times running. 2 running water is water that is flowing somewhere or water that is supplied to a building and available to be used through taps/faucets: I can hear the sound of running water. * a remote cottage without electricity or running water 3 [onlybeforenoun] lasting a long time; continuous SYNONGOING: For years he had fought a running battle with the authorities over the land. * a running argument * His old raincoat became a running joke (= people kept laughing at it). seealsoLONG-RUNNING 4 (-running) (in compounds) running or flowing in the way mentioned: a fast-running river * They showed the free-running, slick football that has become their trademark. IDIOMS (go and) take a running jump (old-fashioned, spoken) used to tell sb in a rude way to go away: Why didn't you just tell him to take a running jump? moreatORDERn.