run down

phrasal verb

Word Forms

present tense
I/you/we/they	run down
he/she/it	runs down
present participle	running down
past tense	ran down
past participle	run down

1
transitive to hit someone with your car and injure or kill them
be/get run down:
She got run down outside school.
Synonyms and related words
To kill a person or animal
kill
murder
strangle
Synonyms and related words
To injure yourself or someone else
injure
harm
wound
2
transitive to criticize someone, especially in an unfair way
You’re always running me down!
run yourself down:
You’re a brilliant mother. Why do you run yourself down?
Synonyms and related words
To criticize, accuse or blame
criticize
blame
put down
3
intransitive/transitive if something such as a machine or clock runs down, or if you run it down, it gradually stops working because it has no power
Switch your headlights off, or you’ll run the battery down.
Synonyms and related words
To stop working (of a piece of equipment)
break down
go off
shut off
4
intransitive/transitive Britishif a business or organization runs down, or if someone runs it down, it gradually becomes smaller
They’ve been running the factory down for the last five years.
The decision was taken to let the steel industry run down.
Synonyms and related words
To do business and relating to doing business
account
after hours
asset
5
transitive (run down something) to quickly read everything on a list
I’ll just run down the list and see if we’ve forgotten anything.
Synonyms and related words
To read something quickly
glance
skim
flick through
6
(run someone down) to find someone after searching for them for a long time
Police eventually ran him down in woods north of the city.
Synonyms and related words
To find something or someone
come across
come on
run across