run (sth) down
— phrasal verb with run uk/rʌn/us/rʌn/verb present participle running, past tense ran, past participle run
(REDUCE)
UK to reduce a business or organization in size or importance, or to become reduced in this way:
The government is secretly running down the troop levels.
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Becoming and making smaller or less
- a nip (here) and a tuck (there) idiom
- attenuate
- axe
- bite
- bite into sth
- dive
- drain
- let sth down
- let up
- lower
- make a hole in sth idiom
- miniaturization
- minimize
- shrink
- slash
- step sth down
- strip sth away
- stripped down
- subside
- tail off
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(LOSE POWER)
If a machine or device such as a clock or battery runs down, it loses power, or if you run it down, you cause this to happen:
These batteries can be recharged when they run down.
You'll run the battery down if you leave your car lights on.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Deteriorating and making worse
- a step backwards idiom
- a turn of the screw idiom
- add
- afford
- aggravate
- backslide
- compound
- decline
- degrade
- disintegrate
- dog
- downgrade
- downhill
- exacerbate
- regress
- retrograde
- retrogress
- run yourself down
- seed
- slip
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