rundown

1 of 3

noun

run·​down ˈrən-ˌdau̇n How to pronounce rundown (audio)
1
: an item-by-item report or review : summary
2
: a play in baseball in which a base runner who is caught off base is chased by two or more opposing players who throw the ball from one to another in an attempt to tag the runner out

run-down

2 of 3

adjective

1
: being in poor repair : dilapidated
2
3
: completely unwound

run down

3 of 3

verb

ran down; run down; running down; runs down

transitive verb

1
a
: to collide with and knock down
b
: to run against and cause to sink
2
a
: to chase to exhaustion or until captured
b
: to trace the source of
c
: to tag out (a base runner) between bases on a rundown
3

intransitive verb

1
: to cease to operate because of the exhaustion of motive power
the clock ran down
2
: to decline in physical condition or vigor

Examples of rundown in a Sentence

Noun They gave us a rundown on the main points of the news. a rundown of our public services He was caught in a rundown. Verb finally ran down the answer after hours of research constantly running down the city's cultural life won't do anything to improve it
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Welcome to our weekly rundown of the best new music — featuring big new singles, key tracks from our favorite albums, and more. Rolling Stone, 8 Mar. 2024 Ross's makeup artist, Molly Greenwald, gives us a rundown of her dewy, glowy look. Essence, 26 Feb. 2024 Here’s the quick rundown: First, sauté the mushrooms. Robin Miller, The Arizona Republic, 31 Jan. 2024 Last, a great and thorough rundown from the Allergen Extract Laboratory. A. Camden Walker, Washington Post, 24 Feb. 2024 Here’s a quick rundown of races to look out for in March and how to sign up. Chris Biderman, Sacramento Bee, 23 Feb. 2024 Welcome to our weekly rundown of the best new music — featuring big singles, key tracks from our favorite albums, and more. Rolling Stone, 23 Feb. 2024 Here's the full concession rundown on the concession situation, from Victoria Hernandez on the scene in Las Vegas 49ers force Chiefs to punt again Kansas City was able to get a first down, but didn't get much more after that, punting the ball back to the 49ers for the second time in as many drives. Steve Gardner, USA TODAY, 11 Feb. 2024 For reference, the S24+ and S24 Ultra surpassed 14 hours in our rundown test, while the S24 got close to 13 hours. Iyaz Akhtar, PCMAG, 6 Feb. 2024
Adjective
Every week, Pitchfork offers a run-down of significant new releases available on streaming services. Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 1 Mar. 2024 Torres Soto’s TikTok post about one run-down bathroom at her school resonated with students at other schools. Nicole Acevedo, NBC News, 29 Feb. 2024 Some stately churches that house Black congregations stand virtually empty even on Sundays, while Latino evangelicals pack run-down storefronts. Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2024 Drug use surged, and the place grew unsafe and run-down. Penelope Green, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2024 Set in the Cloudy Falls residence, a run-down apartment complex in Niagara Falls that seems destined to be torn down, the film tells the story of a handful of its tenants, chosen at random by the narrator, Rita (Susan Berger), the building’s glib superintendent. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 9 Feb. 2024 The house started as a whimsical idea by branding guru John-Patrick Flynn in 2021: Purchase a run-down Midcentury Modern tract home in Palm Springs and invite Shag to reimagine it as one of his artworks. Lisa Boone, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2024 Her shop, one of the oldest in the neighborhood, served as a time capsule of a bygone era as Navy Yard transformed from a run-down, industrial eyesore to one of the most modern and expensive parts of the District. Marisa Iati, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2024 In the summer of 2017, eleven FBI agents searched a small house in a run-down neighborhood in Augusta, Georgia, where a twenty-five-year-old NSA contractor named Reality Winner lived alone with a cat and a foster dog, neither of whom liked men. Ava Kofman, The New York Review of Books, 1 Feb. 2024
Verb
The hotel employee entered the room at about 11 a.m. before being seen on camera quickly shutting the door and running down the hallway, according to the affidavit. Landon Mion, Fox News, 27 Feb. 2024 For over half a decade Mbappe has been letting contracts run down and then miraculously resigning for more years. Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 17 Feb. 2024 On Instagram, the singer shared the album cover, which shows sparkling tears running down her face. Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 2024 The kids were thrilled and their teacher had tears running down her cheeks. Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Feb. 2024 Three white stripes run down its back with a mosaic-like mixture of light brown, cream and dark brown spots inbetween the stripes. Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 27 Feb. 2024 Mea runs down the road and finally encounters Kal driving in her direction. Monica Mercuri, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2024 With time running down in the third, Carr found Butler near the rim and lobbed an alley-oop pass which Butler threw down at the buzzer to tie the game at 42 and get the Branson crowd going. Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 22 Feb. 2024 Rebecca Grossman, accused of running down two young boys in a Westlake Village crosswalk, won’t be testifying in her murder trial. Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rundown.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1908, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Adjective

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Verb

1686, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of rundown was in 1686

Dictionary Entries Near rundown

Cite this Entry

“Rundown.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rundown. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

rundown

1 of 3 noun
run·​down ˈrən-ˌdau̇n How to pronounce rundown (audio)
: an item by item report : summary

run-down

2 of 3 adjective
ˈrən-ˈdau̇n
1
: being in poor condition
a run-down farm
2
: being in or indicating poor health
that run-down feeling

run down

3 of 3 verb
ˈrən-ˈdau̇n
1
: to collide with and knock down
2
a
: to chase until exhausted or captured
b
: to find by search : trace the source of
3
: to stop operating because of the exhaustion of an energy source
the battery ran down

More from Merriam-Webster on rundown

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