1
: a final race, contest, or election to decide an earlier one that has not resulted in a decision in favor of any one competitor
2
: the portion of precipitation on land that ultimately reaches streams often with dissolved or suspended material
ran off; run off; running off; runs off
1
a
: to recite, compose, or produce rapidly
b
: to cause to be run or played to a finish
c
: to decide (a race) by a runoff
d
2
: to drain off : draw off
3
a
: to drive off (someone, such as a trespasser)
b
: to steal (animals, such as cattle) by driving away
see also run off with
Synonyms
Examples of runoff in a Sentence
Verb
the dog often ran off cats and other animals that had intruded upon his owner's property
their rebellious daughter's run off because she was disciplined again
Recent Examples on the Web
Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
The national electoral commission has not yet announced the tally, but Mr. Ba’s concession followed reports by local media that Mr. Faye had won more than 50 percent of the vote, ruling out a runoff.
—Ruth MacLean, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2024
In a more recent example, U.S. officials pushed the Haitian government to include Michel Martelly in the 2011 presidential runoff.
—Matthew Brown, Washington Post, 24 Mar. 2024
The water in the spa is contaminated with bacterial runoff.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 19 Mar. 2024
Republican State Assembly member Vince Fong advanced to the runoff, which will take place in May.
—Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 19 Mar. 2024
In her own reelection bid, Rickert led with 40.4% of the vote, but appears to be headed for a runoff against quarry owner Corkey Harmon.
—Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2024
Foster will claim the seat outright next month because the city’s automatic runoff rule, approved by city voters in 2016, doesn’t apply to special elections.
—David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Mar. 2024
In its Friday update, Richard Pan is still in the lead, but all four candidates have equal chances of making it to the November runoff, said Paul Mitchell, vice president of bipartisan voting data firm Political Data Inc.
—Theresa Clift, Sacramento Bee, 26 Mar. 2024
Cameron Pugh, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Apr. 2024
The car ran off the left side of the roadway and hit a tree.
—Jeff A. Chamer, Charlotte Observer, 9 Apr. 2024
Videos on TikTok are surfacing of clients running off on their stylists after spending 8+ hours on a braided hairstyle.
—Essence, 8 Apr. 2024
And players make step-in 3s at a notably higher rate than off the dribble or running off a screen.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Apr. 2024
And in the championship round, two old-school joints went head-to-head in a run off that closed at midnight on Sunday, March 31.
—Endia Fontanez, The Arizona Republic, 3 Apr. 2024
One of its aircraft ran off a taxiway at Houston on Friday, another lost a tire after takeoff from San Francisco and a flame-spewing engine forced another into an emergency landing.
—Alicia Diaz, Fortune, 10 Mar. 2024
The permit also will regulate stormwater pipes where rain and snowmelt run off Suncor’s property into sewer systems and streams.
—Noelle Phillips, The Denver Post, 6 Mar. 2024
Jordan Hawkins buried the biggest shot of the game as San Diego State cut UConn's lead from 16 to 5 and had all the momentum -- a big time 3 running off a double stagger.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Mar. 2024
Noun
Corpus later scored a decisive victory in that election — avoiding a runoff and becoming one of California’s first Latina sheriffs, as well as the first woman elected sheriff in San Mateo County’s 166-year history and the first challenger in decades to defeat an incumbent sheriff.
—Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
The national electoral commission has not yet announced the tally, but Mr. Ba’s concession followed reports by local media that Mr. Faye had won more than 50 percent of the vote, ruling out a runoff.
—Ruth MacLean, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2024
In a more recent example, U.S. officials pushed the Haitian government to include Michel Martelly in the 2011 presidential runoff.
—Matthew Brown, Washington Post, 24 Mar. 2024
The water in the spa is contaminated with bacterial runoff.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 19 Mar. 2024
Republican State Assembly member Vince Fong advanced to the runoff, which will take place in May.
—Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 19 Mar. 2024
In her own reelection bid, Rickert led with 40.4% of the vote, but appears to be headed for a runoff against quarry owner Corkey Harmon.
—Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2024
Foster will claim the seat outright next month because the city’s automatic runoff rule, approved by city voters in 2016, doesn’t apply to special elections.
—David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Mar. 2024
In its Friday update, Richard Pan is still in the lead, but all four candidates have equal chances of making it to the November runoff, said Paul Mitchell, vice president of bipartisan voting data firm Political Data Inc.
—Theresa Clift, Sacramento Bee, 26 Mar. 2024
Verb
But most of this runs off the land, owing to a dearth of aquifers and impermeable bedrock, leading to crop failures and lack of drinking water.
—Cameron Pugh, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Apr. 2024
The car ran off the left side of the roadway and hit a tree.
—Jeff A. Chamer, Charlotte Observer, 9 Apr. 2024
Videos on TikTok are surfacing of clients running off on their stylists after spending 8+ hours on a braided hairstyle.
—Essence, 8 Apr. 2024
And players make step-in 3s at a notably higher rate than off the dribble or running off a screen.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Apr. 2024
And in the championship round, two old-school joints went head-to-head in a run off that closed at midnight on Sunday, March 31.
—Endia Fontanez, The Arizona Republic, 3 Apr. 2024
One of its aircraft ran off a taxiway at Houston on Friday, another lost a tire after takeoff from San Francisco and a flame-spewing engine forced another into an emergency landing.
—Alicia Diaz, Fortune, 10 Mar. 2024
The permit also will regulate stormwater pipes where rain and snowmelt run off Suncor’s property into sewer systems and streams.
—Noelle Phillips, The Denver Post, 6 Mar. 2024
Jordan Hawkins buried the biggest shot of the game as San Diego State cut UConn's lead from 16 to 5 and had all the momentum -- a big time 3 running off a double stagger.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'runoff.' 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
1867, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Verb
1680, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a
Articles Related to runoff
Dictionary Entries Near runoff
Cite this Entry
“Runoff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/runoff. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
runoff
1 of 2 noun
run·off
ˈrən-ˌȯf 
1
: a final contest or election to decide an earlier one that has not given the victory to one competitor
2
: water from rain or snow that flows over the surface of the ground and finally into streams
run off
2 of 2 verbˈrən-ˈȯf,
ˌrən-
More from Merriam-Webster on runoff
Nglish: Translation of runoff for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about runoff
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