run down

What does "run down" mean?

1. To criticize someone unfairly
2. To gradually lose power or energy (battery, machine)
3. To hit someone with a vehicle
4. To briefly explain or summarize something
5. To find someone or something after searching

Examples

• She's always running down her colleagues behind their backs.
• My phone battery has run down completely.
• He was run down by a speeding car.
• Let me run down the main points of the plan.
• I finally ran down the information I needed.

How to use it

'Rundown' (noun) means a brief summary. 'Run-down' (adjective) means in poor condition or exhausted. 'Give me a rundown' means 'summarize for me'.

Word order

For criticizing: separable ('run someone down'). For summarizing: separable ('run the list down'). For batteries: not separable.

Similar expressions

Opposites

Related phrasal verbs

• run by

  To tell someone about an idea to get their opinion

• run out

  To use all of something so there is none left

• run into

  To meet someone by chance

• run over

  To hit someone or something with a vehicle

• run away

  To leave a place or person quickly to escape

• run up

  To accumulate a large bill or debt