run-of-the-mill

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run-of-the-mill

Common, standard, or average; mediocre. It was a run-of-the-mill action movie—fine to kill a couple hours, but nothing special. I must say, for how many interesting points you bring up in class, your paper is rather run-of-the-mill.

run-of-the-mill

common or average; typical. The restaurant we went to was nothing special—just run-of-the mill. The service was good, but the food was run-of-the-mill or worse.

run of the mill

Ordinary, average, as in There's nothing special about these singers-they're just run of the mill. This expression alludes to fabrics coming directly from a mill without having been sorted or inspected for quality. It has survived such similar phrases as run of the mine and run of the kiln, for the products of mines and kilns. [Late 1800s]

run-of-the-mill

COMMON You use run-of-the-mill to describe something or someone that is ordinary and not at all exciting. It was just run-of-the-mill TV movie stuff. The food was fairly run-of-the-mill. I was just a very average, run-of-the-mill kind of student. Note: This expression may be using the image of a watermill making the same movements continuously and regularly so long as the flow of water stays the same. Another suggestion is that it comes from the use of `run-of-the-mill' in the United States as a term for timber which has been sawn at a sawmill but has not yet been graded.

run of the mill

the ordinary or undistinguished type.

In this expression, the run is literally the material produced from a mill before it has been sorted or inspected for quality.

ˌrun-of-the-ˈmill

(often disapproving) ordinary, with no special or interesting features: a run-of-the-mill job

run-of-the-mill

mod. average; typical. (Referring to the typical quality of a product that comes out of a mill.) This stuff is just run-of-the-mill.

References in periodicals archive ?

The three-year-old has been working nicely at home and is expected to land this run-of-the-mill all-weather maiden before moving on to better things on turf later this spring.

RACING: COLE STAR TO PAN RIVALS

AFTER A STRING OF RUN-of-the-mill commissioners, professional sport has come up with a phenomenal presence named David Stern, who, in record time, has turned the NBA into a paragon of corporate and artistic excellence.

A STERN MASTER.

These accounts receivable did not stem from T's misuse of inventories, but were merely run-of-the-mill debts for collection.

Paving contractor was not required to use accrual method

s public relations firm, KMC Group, was charged with writing a run-of-the-mill personnel press release on the appointment of Dave Hoogerwerf as VP of enginering.

"Loosen up, don't take yourself so seriously"

The tenant also claimed that the Lodestar method for billing utilized by the landlord's counsel was improper, and that since this was a run-of-the-mill summary proceedings for non-payment, the legal fee should be billed at a "market value," which the tenant argued should be $10,000 for this case.

Legal fees awarded landlord are calculated by the court

The cantonal office building at Morges is no run-of-the-mill office: it is an important, even prestigious development.

Swiss exemplar

What's the real difference between such Rebels and your run-of-the-mill Outsider today?

Campus life: undergraduate cultures from the end of the eighteenth century to the present

Two things you need to know aboutManchester United's midweek win against West Ham: As usual for run-of-the-mill games, Old Trafford was quiet as the grave, while most fans were dressed in anti-Glazer green and gold.

PIES FOR CHANTS; FOOTBALL'S ANSWER TO THE 3AM GIRLS

30-10,15pm A run-of-the-mill pre-season friendly is thrown in the spotlight as Cristiano Ronaldo pulls on a Real shirt for the first time.

TODAY'S LIVE ACTION

A doctor then downloads the information from the recording device to a run-of-the-mill computer, where it can be analyzed.

PULSE

Establishing that run-of-the-mill supernova explosions produce jets "would be an important step forward" in understanding what it takes to generate a gamma-ray burst, he adds.

Super portrait: x-ray telescope eyes supernova remnant

On a less-demanding track, Matty Tun can land a run-of-the-mill sprint handicap in the coming weeks.

Racing: EAGLE EYE

This sharp, quenching lager is pretty run-of-the-mill by the country's standards, but has no chemicals or unnecessary additives like sugar.

FOOD: Chill out - Beer

consequently, I was (1) able to ask him brutally frank questions, outside the bounds that others who haven't known him for quite as long would be inclined to and (2) he is a man who is not likely to associate himself with run-of-the-mill products, which wouldn't be in keeping with his evangelism for all things agile.