n. 1. A messenger sent before to give notice of the approach of others; a harbinger; a sign foreshowing something; a prognostic; as, the forerunner of a fever. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whither the forerunner in for us entered, even Jesus. Heb. vi. 20. [ 1913 Webster ]

My elder brothers, my forerunners, came. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A predecessor; an ancestor. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) A piece of rag terminating the log line. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a competitor thought to be most likely to win.
Syn. -- favorite, favourite. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The act or the place of entrance; an inlet. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ G. Marcobrunner. ] A celebrated Rhine wine. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An offshoot; a branch. [ R. ] “Some outrunner of the river.” Lauson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One that overruns. Lovelace. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Straight; direct. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Run. Cf. Rindle. ] A rivulet or small brook. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bubbling runnels joined the sound. Collins. [ 1913 Webster ]

By the very sides of the way . . . there are slow runnels, in which one can see the minnows swimming. Masson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Run. ] 1. One who, or that which, runs; a racer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A detective. [ Slang, Eng. ] Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A messenger. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A smuggler. [ Colloq. ] R. North. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. One employed to solicit patronage, as for a steamboat, hotel, shop, etc. [ Cant, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Bot.) A slender trailing branch which takes root at the joints or end and there forms new plants, as in the strawberry and the common cinquefoil. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. The rotating stone of a set of millstones. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Naut.) A rope rove through a block and used to increase the mechanical power of a tackle. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. One of the pieces on which a sled or sleigh slides; also the part or blade of a skate which slides on the ice. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. (Founding) (a) A horizontal channel in a mold, through which the metal flows to the cavity formed by the pattern; also, the waste metal left in such a channel. (b) A trough or channel for leading molten metal from a furnace to a ladle, mold, or pig bed. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. The movable piece to which the ribs of an umbrella are attached. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. (Zool.) A food fish (Elagatis pinnulatus) of Florida and the West Indies; -- called also skipjack, shoemaker, and yellowtail. The name alludes to its rapid successive leaps from the water. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. (Zool.) Any cursorial bird. [ 1913 Webster ]

14. (Mech.) (a) A movable slab or rubber used in grinding or polishing a surface of stone. (b) A tool on which lenses are fastened in a group, for polishing or grinding. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Rennet. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Moving or advancing by running. Specifically, of a horse: (a) Having a running gait; not a trotter or pacer. (b) trained and kept for running races; as, a running horse. Law. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Successive; one following the other without break or intervention; -- said of periods of time; as, to be away two days running; to sow land two years running. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Flowing; easy; cursive; as, a running hand. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Continuous; keeping along step by step; as, he stated the facts with a running explanation. “A running conquest.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

What are art and science if not a running commentary on Nature? Hare. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Bot.) Extending by a slender climbing or trailing stem; as, a running vine. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Med.) Discharging pus; as, a running sore. [ 1913 Webster ]

Running block (Mech.), a block in an arrangement of pulleys which rises or sinks with the weight which is raised or lowered. --
Running board, a narrow platform extending along the side of a locomotive. --
Running bowsprit (Naut.) Same as Reefing bowsprit. --
Running days (Com.), the consecutive days occupied on a voyage under a charter party, including Sundays and not limited to the working days. Simmonds. --
Running fire, a constant fire of musketry or cannon. --
Running gear, the wheels and axles of a vehicle, and their attachments, in distinction from the body; all the working parts of a locomotive or other machine, in distinction from the framework. --
Running hand, a style of rapid writing in which the letters are usually slanted and the words formed without lifting the pen; -- distinguished from round hand. --
Running part (Naut.), that part of a rope that is hauled upon, -- in distinction from the standing part. --
Running rigging (Naut.), that part of a ship's rigging or ropes which passes through blocks, etc.; -- in distinction from standing rigging. --
Running title (Print.), the title of a book or chapter continued from page to page on the upper margin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of one who, or of that which runs; as, the running was slow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which runs or flows; the quantity of a liquid which flows in a certain time or during a certain operation; as, the first running of a still. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The discharge from an ulcer or other sore. [ 1913 Webster ]

At long running, in the long run. [ Obs. ] Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Aeronautics) (a) The air pressure supported by each longitudinal foot segment of a wing. (b) Commonly, the whole weight of aeroplane and load divided by the span, or length from tip to tip. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

adv. In a running manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Ronion. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ etc. } One that starts from the scratch; hence, one of first-rate ability. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Zool.) (a) The ring plover, or the ringed dotterel. [ Prov. Eng. ] (b) The dotterel. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A trundle. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Shipbuilding) See Treenail. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. trognon the stock, stump, or truck of a tree, F. trognon a core, stalk, fr. tron a trunk, stem. Cf. Trunk. ] 1. (Gun.) A cylindrical projection on each side of a piece, whether gun, mortar, or howitzer, serving to support it on the cheeks of the carriage. See Illust. of Cannon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Steam Engine) A gudgeon on each side of an oscillating steam cylinder, to support it. It is usually tubular, to convey steam. [ 1913 Webster ]

Trunnion plate (Gun.), a plate in the carriage of a gun, mortar, or howitzer, which covers the upper part of the cheek, and forms a bearing under the trunnion. --
Trunnion ring (Gun.), a ring on a cannon next before the trunnions. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Provided with trunnions; as, the trunnioned cylinder of an oscillating steam engine. [ 1913 Webster ]