run down

run someone or something down 

1. to collide with and knock down someone or something. The drunken driver ran three pedestrians down. Mary ran down a stop sign.

2. to criticize or deride someone or something. Please stop running me down all the time. I can't be that bad! You run down everybody who takes your old job!

3. to hunt for and locate someone or something. Could you run some information down for me? I was finally able to run down my old friend.

See also: run

run something down

to use something having batteries, a motor, or an engine until it has no more power and it stops. Who ran my electric toothbrush down? Someone ran down my batteries.

See also: run

run down 

1. to come down, running or very quickly; to go down, running or very quickly. I need to talk to you down here. Can you run down? I will run down and talk to you.

2. [for something] to lose power and stop working. The clock ran down because no one was there to wind it. The toy ran down and wouldn't go again until it had been wound.

3. to become worn or dilapidated. The property was allowed to run down, and it took a lot of money to fix it up. The old neighborhood has certainly run down since we moved away.

See also: run

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run you down

to make you very tired All of these crises in the family have really run her down.

See also: run

run down (something)

to use the power that makes something work We left the car lights on and ran down the battery. I wound up the toy dog and watched it jump until it ran down.

See also: run

run down somebody/something also run somebody/something down

1. to unfairly criticize someone or something People run down the justice system all the time, but it works relatively fairly. Some people can only feel better about themselves if they're running you down.

2. to search for and find someone or something We spend a lot of money each year running down students who are out of school illegally. The software giant spent months running down bugs in the program and fixing them. The cops tried to run these guys down, but they had no luck.

3.

See also: run

run down somebody also run somebody down

to injure or kill someone with a vehicle He's accused of running down two pedestrians while driving drunk. She tried to run us down!

See also: run

run down something also run something down

1. to explain something I'll run down my research quickly. T. J. ran it all down for him, explaining the different costs of each option.

2. to reduce something We are going to start running down our savings if prices don't stop rising. I want to run our supplies down some more before we reorder.

See also: run