Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

RUEING — RUSH-LIGHT

RUEING, n. Lamentation.

RUELLE, n. ruel’.

A circle; a private circle or assembly at a private house. [Not in use.]

RUFESCENT, a. [L. rufesco, to grow red.] Reddish; tinged with red.

RUFF, n.

1. A piece of plaited linen worn by females around the neck.

2. Something puckered or plaited.

3. A small fish, a species of Perca.

4. A bird of the genus Tringa, with a tuft of feathers around the neck of the male, whence the name. The female is called reeve.

5. A state of roughness. Obs.

6. Pride; elevation; as princes in the ruff of all their glory.

7. A particular species of pigeon.

8. At cards, the act of winning the trick by trumping the cards of another suit.

RUFF, v.t.

1. To ruffle; to disorder.

2. To trump any other suit of cards at whist.

RUFFIAN, n.

A boisterous, brutal fellow; a fellow ready for any desperate crime; a robber; a cut-throat; a murderer.

RUFFIAN, a. Brutal; savagely boisterous; as ruffian rage.

RUFFIAN, v.i. To play the ruffian; to rage; to raise tumult.

RUFFIAN-LIKE, a. Like a ruffian; bold in crimes; violent; licentious.

RUFFLE, v.t.

1. Properly, to wrinkle; to draw or contract into wrinkles, open plaits or folds.

2. To disorder by disturbing a smooth surface; to make uneven by agitation; as, to ruffle the sea or a lake.

She smooth’d the ruffl’d seas.

3. To discompose by disturbing a calm state of; to agitate; to disturb; as, to ruffle the mind; to ruffle the passions or the temper. It expresses less than fret and vex.

4. To throw into disorder or confusion.

Where best he might the ruffl’d foe invest.

5. To throw together in a disorderly manner.

I ruffl’d up fall’n leaves in heap. [Unusual.]

6. To furnish with ruffles; as, to ruffle a shirt.

RUFFLE, v.i.

1. To grow rough or turbulent; as, the winds ruffle.

2. To play loosely; to flutter.

On his right shoulder his thick mane reclin’d, ruffles at speed and dances in the wind.

3. To be rough; to jar; to be contention.

They would ruffle with jurors. Obs.

RUFFLE, n.

1. A strip of plaited cambric or other fine cloth attached to some border of a garment, as to the wristband or bosom. That at the bosom is sometimes called by the English, a frill.

2. Disturbance; agitation; commotion; as, to put the mind or temper in a ruffle.

RUFFLE, RUFF, n. A particular beat or roll of the drum, used on certain occasions in military affairs, as a mark of respect. Lieutenant Generals have three ruffles, as they pass by the regiment, guard, etc. Major generals have two, brigadiers one, etc.

RUFFLE, RUFF, v.t. To beat the ruff or roll of the drum.

RUFFLED, pp. Disturbed; agitated; furnished with ruffles.

RUFFLER, n. A bully; a swaggerer. [Not in use.]

RUFFLING, ppr. Disturbing; agitating; furnishing with ruffles.

RUFFLING, n. Commotion; disturbance; agitation.

RUFFLING, RUFFING, ppr. Beating a roll of the drum.

RUFFLING, RUFFING, n. A particular beat or roll of the drum, used on certain occasions as a mark of respect.

RUFOUS, a. [L. rufus, rubeo.]

Reddish; of a reddish color, or rather of a yellowish red.

RUFTER-HOOD, n. In falconry, a hood to be worn by a hawk when she is first drawn.

RUG, n. [This belongs to the great family of rough, L. ruga, raucus.]

1. A coarse nappy woolen cloth used for a bed cover, and in modern times particularly, for covering the carpet before a fire-place. This name was formerly given to a coarse kind of frieze used for winter garments, and it may be that the poor in some countries still wear it. But in America, I believe the name is applied only to a bed cover for ordinary beds, and to a covering before a fire-place.

2. A rough, woolly or shaggy dog.

RUGGED, a. [from the root of rug, rough, which see.]

1. Rough; full of asperities on the surface; broken into sharp or irregular points or crags, or otherwise uneven; as a rugged mountain; a rugged road.

2. Uneven; not neat or regular.

His well proportion’d beard made rough and rugged.

3. Rough in temper; harsh; hard; crabbed; austere.

4. Stormy; turbulent; tempestuous; as rugged weather; a rugged season.

5. Rough to the ear; harsh; grating; as a rugged verse in poetry; rugged prose.

6. Sour; surly; frowning; wrinkled; as rugged looks.

7. Violent; rude; boisterous.

8. Rough; shaggy; as a rugged bear.

9. In botany, scabrous; rough with tubercles or stiff points; as a leaf or stem.

RUGGEDLY, adv. In a rough or rugged manner.

RUGGEDNESS, n.

1. The quality or state of being rugged; roughness; asperity of surface; as the ruggedness of land or of roads.

2. Roughness of temper; harshness; surliness.

3. Coarseness; rudeness of manners.

4. Storminess; boisterousness; as of a season.

RUGGOWNED, a. Wearing a coarse gown or rug.

RUGIN, n. A nappy cloth. [Not used.]

RUGINE, n. A surgeon’s rasp.

RUGOSE, RUGOUS, a. [L. rugosus, from ruga, a wrinkle.]

1. Wrinkled; full of wrinkles.

2. In botany rugose leaf is when the veins are more contracted than the disk, so that the latter rises into little inequalities, as in sage, primrose, cowslip. etc.

RUGOSITY, n. A state of being wrinkled. [Little used.]

RUIN, n. [L. ruo, to fall, to rush down.]

1. Destruction; fall; overthrow; defeat; that change of any thing which destroys it, or entirely defeats its object, or unfits it for use; as the ruin of a house; the ruin of a ship or an army; the ruin of a constitution of government; the ruin of health; the ruin of commerce; the ruin of public or private happiness; the ruin of a project.

2. Mischief; bane; that which destroys.

The errors of young men are the ruin of business.

3. Ruin, more generally ruins, the remains of a decayed or demolished city, house, fortress, or any work of art or other thing; as the ruins of Balbec, Palmyra or Persepolis; the ruins of a wall; a castle in ruins.

The labor of a day will not build up a virtuous habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character.

4. The decayed or enfeebled remains of a natural object; as, the venerable old man presents a great mind in ruins.

5. The cause of destruction.

They were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 2 Chronicles 28:23.

RUIN, v.t.

1. To demolish; to pull down, burn, or otherwise destroy; as, to ruin a city or an edifice.

2. To subvert; to destroy; as, to ruin a state or government.

3. To destroy; to bring to an end; as, to ruin commerce or manufactures.

4. To destroy in any manner; as, to ruin health or happiness; to ruin reputation.

5. To counteract; to defeat; as, to ruin a plan or project.

6. To deprive of felicity or fortune.

By thee rais’d I ruin all my foes.

Grace with a nod, and ruin with a frown.

7. To impoverish; as, to be ruined by speculation.

The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us.

8. To bring to everlasting misery; as, to ruin the soul.

RUIN, v.i.

1. To fall into ruins.

2. To run to ruin; to fall into decay or be dilapidated.

Though he his house of polish’d marble build, yet shall it ruin like the moth’s frail cell.

3. To be reduced; to be brought to poverty or misery.

If we are idle, and disturb the industrious in their business, we shall ruin the faster.

[Note. This intransitive use of the verb is now unusual.]

RUINATE, v.t. To demolish; to subvert; to destroy; to reduce to poverty. [This word is ill formed and happily is become obsolete.]

RUINATION, n. Subversion; overthrow; demolition. [Inelegant and obsolete.]

RUINED, pp. Demolished; destroyed; subverted; reduced to poverty; undone.

RUINER, n. One that ruins or destroys.

RUINIFORM, a. [L. ruina and form.] Having the appearance of ruins, or the ruins of houses. Certain minerals are said to be ruiniform.

RUINING, ppr. Demolishing; subverting; destroying; reducing to poverty; bringing to endless misery.

RUINOUS, a. [L. ruinosus.]

1. Fallen to ruin; entirely decayed; demolished; dilapidated; as an edifice, bridge or wall in a ruinous state.

2. Destructive; baneful; pernicious; bringing or tending to bring certain ruin. Who can describe the ruinous practice of intemperance?

3. Composed of ruins; consisting in ruins; as a ruinous heap. Isaiah 17:1.

RUINOUSLY, adv. In a ruinous manner; destructively.

RUINOUSNESS, n. A ruinous state or quality.

RULE, n. [L. regula, from rego, to govern, that is, to stretch, strain or make straight.]

1. Government; sway; empire; control; supreme command or authority.

A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame. Proverbs 17:2.

And his stern rule the groaning land obey’d.

2. That which is established as a principle, standard or directory; that by which any thing is to be adjusted or regulated, or to which it is to be conformed; that which is settled by authority or custom for guidance and direction. Thus a statute or law is a rule of civil conduct; a canon is a rule of ecclesiastical government; the precept or command of a father is a rule of action or obedience to children; precedents in law are rules of decision to judges; maxims and customs furnish rules for regulating our social opinions and manners. The laws of God are rules for directing us in life, paramount to all others.

A rule which you do not apply, is no rule at all.

3. An instrument by which lines are drawn.

Judicious artist will use his eye, but he will trust only to his rule.

4. Established mode or course of proceeding prescribed in private life. Every man should have some fixed rules for managing his own affairs.

5. In literature, a maxim, canon or precept to be observed in any art or science.

6. In monasteries, corporations or societies, a law or regulation to be observed by the society and its particular members.

7. In courts, rules are the determinations and orders of court, to be observed by its officers in conducting the business of the court.

8. In arithmetic and algebra, a determinate mode prescribed for performing any operation and producing a certain result.

9. In grammar, an establish form of construction in a particular class of words; or the expression of that form in words. Thus it is a rule in English, that s or es, added to a noun in the singular number, forms the plural of that noun; but man forms its plural men, and is an exception to the rule.

Rule of three, is that rule of arithmetic which directs, when three terms are given, how to find a fourth, which shall have the same ratio to the third term, as the second has to the first.

RULE, v.t.

1. To govern; to control the will and actions of others, either by arbitrary power and authority, or by established laws. The emperors of the east rule their subjects without the restraints of a constitution. In limited governments, men are ruled by known laws.

If a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? 1 Timothy 3:5.

2. To govern the movements of things; to conduct; to manage; to control. That God rules the world he has created, is a fundamental article of belief.

3. To manage; to conduct, in almost any manner.

4. To settle as by a rule.

That’s a ruled case with the schoolmen.

5. To mark with lines by a ruler; as, to rule a blank book.

6. To establish by decree or decision; to determine; as a court.

RULE, v.i. To have power or command; to exercise supreme authority.

By me princes rule. Proverbs 8:16.

It is often followed by over.

They shall rule over their oppressors. Isaiah 14:2.

We subdue and rule over all other creatures.

RULED, pp. Governed; controlled; conducted; managed; established by decision.

RULER, n.

1. One that governs, whether emperor, king, pope or governor; any one that exercises supreme power over others.

2. One that makes or executes laws in a limited or free government. Thus legislators and magistrates are called rulers.

3. A rule; an instrument of wood or metal with straight edges or sides, by which lines are drawn on paper, parchment or other substance. When a ruler has the lines of chords, tangents, sines, etc. it is called a plane scale.

RULING, ppr.

1. Governing; controlling the will and actions of intelligent beings, or the movements of other physical bodies.

2. Marking by a ruler.

3. Deciding; determining.

4. a. Predominant; chief; controlling; as a ruling passion.

RULY, a. [from rule.] Orderly; easily restrained. [Not in use.] [See Unruly.]

RUM, n.

1. Spirit distilled from cane juice; or the scummings of the juice from the boiling house, or from the treacle or molasses which drains from sugar, or from dunder, the lees of former distillations.

In the United States, rum is distilled from molasses only.

2. A low cant word for a country parson.

RUM, a. Old fashioned; queer. [Not in use.]

RUMBLE, v.i. [Heb., Gr., L. fremo.]

To make a low, heavy, continued sound; as thunder rumbles at a distance, but when near, its sound is sharp and rattling. A heavy carriage rumbles on the pavement.

RUMBLER, n. The person or thing that rumbles.

RUMBLING, ppr. Making a low, heavy continued sound; as rumbling thunder. A rumbling noise is a low, heavy, continued noise.

RUMBLING, n. A low, heavy, continued sound. Jeremiah 47:3.

RUMBUD, n. A grog blossom; the popular name of a redness occasioned by the detestable practice of excessive drinking. rumbuds usually appear first on the nose, and gradually extend over the face.

RUMINANT, a. [L. rumino.] Chewing the cud; having the property of chewing again what has been swallowed; as ruminant animals.

RUMINANT, n. An animal that chews the cud. Ruminants are four footed, hairy and viviparous.

RUMINATE, v.i. [L. rumino, from rumen, the cud.]

1. To chew the cud; to chew again what has been slightly chewed and swallowed. Oxen, sheep, deer, goats, camels, hares and squirrels ruminate in fact; other animals, as moles, bees, crickets, beetles, crabs, etc. only appear to ruminate.

The only animals endowed with the genuine faculty of rumination, are the Ruminantia, or cloven-hoofed quadrupeds, but the hare, although its stomach is differently organized, is an occasional and partial ruminant.

2. To muse; to meditate; to think again and again; to ponder. It is natural to ruminate on misfortunes.

He practices a slow meditation, and ruminates on the subject.

RUMINATE, v.t.

1. To chew over again.

2. To muse on; to meditate over and over again.

Mad with desire, she ruminates her sin.

RUMINATED, pp. Chewed again; mused on.

RUMINATING, ppr. Chewing the cud; musing.

RUMINATION, n. [L. ruminatio.]

1. The act of chewing the cud.

2. The power or property of chewing the cud.

Rumination is given to animals, to enable them at once to lay up a great store of food, and afterwards to chew it.

3. A musing or continued thinking on a subject; deliberate meditation or reflection.

Retiring full of rumination sad.

RUMINATOR, n. One that ruminates or muses on any subject; one that pauses to deliberate and consider.

RUMMAGE, n. A searching carefully by looking into every corner and by tumbling over things.

RUMMAGE, v.t. [L. rimor.]

To search narrowly by looking into every corner and turning over or removing goods or other things.

Our greedy seamen rummage every hold.

RUMMAGE, v.i. To search a place narrowly by looking among things.

I have often rummaged for old books in Little-Britain and Duck-Lane.

RUMMAGED, pp. Searched in every corner.

RUMMAGING, ppr. Searching in every corner.

RUMMER, n.

A glass or drinking cup. [Not in use.]

RUMOR, n. [L.]

1. Flying or popular report; a current story passing from one person to another without any known authority for the truth of it.

Rumor next and chance and tumult and confusion all embroil’d.

When ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troubled. Mark 13:7.

2. Report of a fact; a story well authorized.

This rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea. Luke 7:17.

3. Fame; reported celebrity.

Great is the rumor of this dreadful knight.

RUMOR, v.t. To report; to tell or circulate a report.

‘Twas rumor’d my father ‘scap’d from out the citadel.

RUMORED, pp. Told among the people; reported.

RUMORER, n. A reporter; a teller of news.

RUMORING, ppr. Reporting; telling news.

RUMP, n.

1. The end of the back bone of an animal with the parts adjacent. Among the Jews, the rump was esteemed the most delicate part of the animal.

2. The buttocks.

RUMPLE, v.t.

To wrinkle; to make uneven; to form into irregular inequalities; as, to rumple and apron or a cravat.

RUMPLE, n. A fold or plait.

RUMPLED, pp. Formed into irregular wrinkles or folds.

RUMPLESS, a. Destitute of a tail; as a rumpless fowl.

RUMPLING, ppr. Making uneven.

RUN, v.i. pret. ran or run; pp. run.

1. To move or pass in almost any manner, as on the feet or on wheels. Men and other animals run on their feet; carriages run on wheels, and wheels run on their axle-trees.

2. To move or pass on the feet with celerity or rapidity, by leaps or long quick steps; as, men and quadrupeds run when in haste.

3. To use the legs in moving; to step; as, children run alone or run about.

4. To move in a hurry.

The priest and people run about.

5. To proceed along the surface; to extend; to spread; as, the fire runs over a field or forest.

The fire ran along upon the ground. Exodus 9:23.

6. To rush with violence; as, a ship runs against a rock; or one ship runs against another.

7. To move or pass on the water; to sail; as, ships run regularly between New York and Liverpool. Before a storm, run into a harbor, or under the lee of the land. The ship has run ten knots an hour.

8. To contend in a race; as, men or horses run for a prize.

9. To flee for escape. When General Wolfe was dying, an officer standing by him exclaimed, see how they run. Who run? said the dying hero. The enemy, said the officer. Then I die happy, said the general.

10. To depart privately; to steal away.

My conscience will serve me to run from this Jew, my master.

11. To flow in any manner, slowly or rapidly; to move or pass; as a fluid. Rivers run to the ocean or to lakes. The Connecticut runs on sand, and its water is remarkably pure. The tide runs two or three miles an hour. Tears run down the cheeks.

12. To emit; to let flow.

I command that the conduit run nothing but claret.

Rivers run potable gold.

But this form of expression is elliptical, with being omitted; “rivers run with potable gold.”

13. To be liquid or fluid.

As wax dissolves, as ice begin to run -

14. To be fusible; to melt.

Sussex iron ores run freely in the fire.

15. To fuse; to melt.

Your iron must not burn in the fire, that is, run or melt, for then it will be brittle.

16. To turn; as, a wheel runs on an axis or on a pivot.

17. To pass; to proceed; as, to run through a course of business; to run through life; to run in a circle or a line; to run through all degrees of promotion.

18. To flow, as words, language or periods. The lines run smoothly.

19. To pass, as time.

As fast as our time runs, we should be glad in most part of our lives that it ran much faster.

20. To have a legal course; to be attached to; to have legal effect.

Customs run only upon our goods imported or exported, and that but once for all; whereas interest runs as well upon our ships as goods, and must be yearly paid.

21. To have a course or direction.

Where the generally allowed practice runs counter to it.

Little is the wisdom, where the flight so runs against all reason.

22. To pass in thought, speech or practice; as, to run through a series of arguments; to run from one topic to another.

Virgil, in his first Georgic, has run into a set of precepts foreign to his subject.

23. To be mentioned cursorily or in few words.

The whole runs on short, like articles in an account.

24. To have a continued tenor or course. The conversation ran on the affairs of the Greeks.

The king’s ordinary style runneth, “our sovereign lord the king.”

25. To be in motion; to speak incessantly. Her tongue runs continually.

26. To be busied; to dwell.

When we desire any thing, our minds run wholly on the good circumstances of it; when it is obtained, our minds run wholly on the bad ones.

27. To be popularly known.

Men gave then their own names, by which they run a great while in Rome.

28. To be received; to have reception, success or continuance. The pamphlet runs well among a certain class of people.

29. To proceed in succession.

She saw with joy the line immortal run, each sire impress’d and glaring in his son.

30. To pass from one state or condition to another; as, to run into confusion or error; to run distracted.

31. To proceed in a train of conduct.

You should run a certain course.

32. To be in force.

The owner hath incurred the forfeiture of eight years profits of his lands, before he cometh to the knowledge of the process that runneth against him.

33. To be generally received.

He was not ignorant what report run of himself.

34. To be carried; to extend; to rise; as, debates run high.

In popish countries, the power of the clergy runs higher.

35. To have a track or course.

Searching the ulcer with my probe, the sinus run up above the orifice.

36. To extend; to lie in continued length. Veins of silver run in different directions.

37. To have a certain direction. The line runs east and west.

38. To pass in an orbit of any figure. The planets run their periodical courses. The comets do not run lawless through the regions of space.

39. To tend in growth or progress. Pride is apt to run into a contempt of others.

40. To grow exuberantly. Young persons of 10 or 12 years old, soon run up to men and women.

If the richness of the ground cause turnips to run to leaves, treading down the leaves will help their rooting.

41. To discharge pus or other matter; as, an ulcer runs.

42. To reach; to extend to the remembrance of; as time out of mind, the memory of which runneth not to the contrary.

43. To continue in time, before it becomes due and payable; as, a note runs thirty days; a note of six months has ninety days to run.

44. To continue in effect, force or operation.

The statute may be prevented from running - by the act of the creditor.

45. To press with numerous demands of payment; as, to run upon a bank.

46. To pass or fall into fault, vice or misfortune; as, to run into vice; to run into evil practices; to run into debt; to run into mistakes.

47. To fall or pass by gradual changes; to make a transition; as, colors run one into another.

48. To have a general tendency.

Temperate climates run into moderate governments.

49. To proceed as on a ground or principle. Obs.

50. To pass or proceed in conduct or management.

Tarquin, running into all the methods of tyranny, after a cruel reign was expelled.

51. To creep; to move by creeping or crawling; as, serpents run on the ground.

52. To slide; as, a sled or sleigh runs on the snow.

53. To dart; to shoot; as a meteor in the sky.

54. To fly; to move in the air; as, the clouds run from N.E. to S.W.

55. In Scripture, to pursue or practice the duties of religion.

Ye did run well; who did hinder you? Galatians 5:7.

56. In elections, to have interest or favor; to be supported by votes. The candidate will not run, or he will run well.

1. To run after, to pursue or follow.

2. To search for; to endeavor to find or obtain; as, to run after similes.

To run at, to attack with the horns, as a bull.

To run away, to flee; to escape.

1. To run away with, to hurry without deliberation.

2. To convey away; or to assist in escape or elopement.

To run in, to enter; to step in.

To run into, to enter; as, to run into danger.

To run in trust, to run in debt; to get credit. [Not in use.]

1. To run in with, to close; to comply; to agree with. [Unusual.]

2. To make towards; to near; to sail close to; as, to run in with the land; a seaman’s phrase.

To run down a coast, to sail along it.

1. To run on, to be continued. Their accounts had run on for a year or two without a settlement.

2. To talk incessantly.

3. To continue a course.

4. To press with jokes or ridicule; to abuse with sarcasms; to bear hard on.

To run over, to overflow; as, a cup runs over; or the liquor runs over.

1. To run out, to come to an end; to expire; as, a lease runs out at Michaelmas.

2. To spread exuberantly; as, insectile animals run out into legs.

3. To expatiate; as, to run out into beautiful digressions. He runs out in praise of Milton.

4. To be wasted or exhausted; as, an estate managed without economy, will soon run out.

5. To become poor by extravagance.

And had her stock been less, no doubt she must have long ago run out.

To run up, to rise; to swell; to amount. Accounts of goods credited run up very fast.

RUN, v.t.

1. To drive or push; in a general sense. Hence to run a sword through the body, is to stab or pierce it.

2. To drive; to force.

A talkative person runs himself upon great inconveniences, by blabbing out his own or others’ secrets.

Others accustomed to retired speculations, run natural philosophy into metaphysical notions.

3. To cause to be driven.

They ran the ship aground. Acts 27:41.

4. To melt; to fuse.

The purest gold must be run and washed.

5. To incur; to encounter; to run the risk or hazard of losing one’s property. To run the danger, is a phrase not now in use.

6. To venture; to hazard.

He would himself be in the Highlands to receive them, and run his fortune with them.

7. To smuggle; to import or export without paying the duties required by law; as, to run goods.

8. To pursue in thought; to carry in contemplation; as, to run the world back to its first original.

I would gladly understand the formation of a soul, and run it up to its punctum saliens.

9. To push; to thrust; as, to run the hand into the pocket or the bosom; to run a nail into the foot.

10. To ascertain and mark by metes and bounds; as, to run a line between towns or states.

11. To cause to ply; to maintain in running or passing; as, to run a stage coach from London to Bristol; to run a line of packets from New Haven to New York.

12. To cause to pass; as, to run a rope through a block.

13. To found; to shape, form or make in a mold; to cast; as, to run buttons or balls.

1. To run down, in hunting, to chase to weariness; as, to run down a stag.

2. In navigation, to run down a vessel, is to run against her, end on, and sink her.

3. To crush; to overthrow; to overbear.

Religion is run down by the license of these times.

1. To run hard, to press with jokes, sarcasm or ridicule.

2. To urge or press importunately.

1. To run over, to recount in a cursory manner; to narrate hastily; as, to run over the particulars of a story.

2. To consider cursorily.

3. To pass the eye over hastily.

1. To run out, to thrust or push out; to extend.

2. To waste; to exhaust; as, to run out an estate.

To run through, to expend; to waste; as, to run through an estate.

1. To run up, to increase; to enlarge by additions. A man who takes goods on credit, is apt to run up his account to a large sum before he is aware of it.

2. To thrust up, as any thing long and slender.

RUN, n.

1. The act of running.

2. Course; motion; as the run of humor.

3. Flow; as a run of verses to please the ear.

4. Course; process; continued series; as the run of events.

5. Way; will; uncontrolled course.

Our family must have their run.

6. General reception; continued success.

It is impossible for detached papers to have a general run or long continuance, if not diversified with humor.

7. Modish or popular clamor; as a violent run against university education.

8. A general or uncommon pressure on a bank or treasury for payment of its notes.

9. The aftmost part of a ship’s bottom.

10. The distance sailed by a ship; as, we had a good run.

11. A voyage; also, an agreement among sailors to work a passage from one place to another.

12. A pair of mill-stones. A mill has two, four or six runs of stones.

13. Prevalence; as, a disease, opinion or fashion has its run.

14. In the middle and southern states of America, a small stream; a brook.

In the long run, [at the long run, not so generally used,] signifies the whole process or course of things taken together; in the final result; in the conclusion or end.

The run of mankind, the generality of people.

RUNAGATE, n. A fugitive; an apostate; a rebel; a vagabond.

RUNAWAY, n. [run and away.] One that flies from danger or restraint; one that deserts lawful service; a fugitive.

RUNCATION, n. [L. runcatio.] A weeding. [Not in use.]

RUNCINATE, a. [L. runcina, a saw.] In botany, a runcinate leaf is a sort of pinnatifid leaf, with the lobes convex before and straight behind, like the teeth of a double saw, as in the dandelion.

Lion toothed; cut into several transverse acute segments, pointing backwards.

RUNDLE, n. [from round.]

1. A round; a step of a ladder.

2. Something put round an axis; a peritrochium; as a cylinder with a rundle about it.

RUNDLET, RUNLET, n. [from round.] A small barrel of no certain dimensions. It may contain from 3 to 20 gallons.

RUNE, n. [See Runic.] The runic letter or character.

RUNER, n. A bard or learned man among the ancient Goths. [See Runic.]

RUNES, n. plu. Gothic poetry or rhymes.

RUNG, pret. and pp. of ring.

RUNG, n. A floor timber in a ship, whence the end is called a rung-head; more properly a floor-head.

RUNIC, a.

An epithet applied to the language and letters of the ancient Goths.

RUNNEL, n. [from run.] A rivulet or small brook. [Not in use.]

RUNNER, n. [from run.]

1. One that runs; that which runs.

2. A racer.

3. A messenger.

4. A shooting sprig.

In every root there will be one runner, with little buds on it.

5. One of the stones of a mill.

6. A bird.

7. A thick rope used to increase the mechanical power of a tackle.

RUNNET, n.

The concreted milk found in the stomachs of calves or other sucking quadrupeds. The same name is given to a liquor prepared by steeping the inner membrane of a calf’s stomach in water, and to the membrane itself. This is used for coagulating milk, or converting it into curd in the making of cheese.

RUNNING, ppr.

1. Moving or going with rapidity; flowing.

2. a. Kept for the race; as a running horse.

3. In succession; without any intervening day, year, etc.; as, to visit two days running; to sow land two years running.

4. Discharging pus or other matter; as a running sore.

RUNNING, n.

1. The act of running, or passing with speed.

2. That which runs or flows; as the first running of a still or of cider at the mill.

3. The discharge of an ulcer or other sore.

RUNNING-FIGHT, n. A battle in which one party flees and the other pursues, but the party fleeing keeps up the contest.

RUNNING-RIGGING, n. That part of a ship’s rigging or ropes which passes through blocks, etc.; in distinction from standing-rigging.

RUNNING-TITLE, n. In printing, the title of a book that is continued from page to page on the upper margin.

RUNNION, n. A paltry scurvy wretch.

RUNT, n. [See Runnet.]

Any animal small below the natural or usual size of the species.

Of tame pigeons, are croppers, carriers and runts.

RUPEE, n.

A silver coin of the East Indies, of the value of 2s. 4d. or 2s. 6d. sterling; about 52 or 56 cents.

RUPTION, n. [L. ruptio, rumpo, to break.] Breach; a break or bursting open.

RUPTURE, n. [L. ruptus, rumpo, to break.]

1. The act of breaking or bursting; the state of being broken or violently parted; as the rupture of the skin; the rupture of a vessel or fiber.

2. Hernia; a preternatural protrusion of the contents of the abdomen.

3. Breach of peace or concord, either between individuals or nations; between nations, open hostility or war. We say, the parties or nations have come to an open rupture.

He knew that policy would disincline Napoleon from a rupture with his family.

RUPTURE, v.t. To break; to burst; to part by violence; as, to rupture a blood vessel.

RUPTURE, v.i. To suffer a breach of disruption.

RUPTURED, pp. Broken; burst.

RUPTURE-WORT, n. A plant of the genus Herniaria, and another of the genus Linum.

RUPTURING, ppr. Breaking; bursting.

RURAL, a. [L. ruralis, from rus, the country.]

Pertaining to the country, as distinguished from a city or town; suiting the country, or resembling it; as rural scenes; a rural prospect; a rural situation; rural music.

RURALIST, n. One that leads a rural life.

RURALLY, adv. As in the country.

RURALNESS, n. The quality of being rural.

RURICOLIST, n. [L. ruricola; rus, the country, and colo, to inhabit.]

An inhabitant of the country. [Not in use.]

RURIGENOUS, a. [L. rus, the country, and gignor, to be born.]

Born in the country. [Not in use.]

RUSE, n. Artifice; trick; stratagem; wile; fraud; deceit. [Not English.]

RUSH, n. [Heb. usually rendered sea-weed, and applied to the Arabic gulf, Deuteronomy 1:1; Numbers 21:14. This correspondence deserves notice, as illustrating certain passages in the Scriptures.]

1. A plant of the genus Juncus of many species. The pith of the rush is used in some places for wicks to lamps and rush lights.

2. Any thing proverbially worthless or of trivial value.

John Bull’s friendship is not worth a rush.

RUSH, v.i.

1. To move or drive forward with impetuosity, violence and tumultuous rapidity; as, armies rush to battle; waters rush down a precipice; winds rush through the forest. We ought never to rush into company, much less into a religious assembly.

2. To enter with undue eagerness, or without due deliberation and preparation; as, to rush into business or speculation; to rush into the ministry.

RUSH, v.t. To push forward with violence. [Not used.]

RUSH, n. A driving forward with eagerness and haste; a violent motion or course; as a rush of troops; a rush of winds.

RUSH-CANDLE, n. A small blinking taper made by stripping a rush, except one small strip of the bark which holds the pith together, and dipping it in tallow.

RUSHED, a. Abounding with rushes.

RUSHER, n.

1. One who rushes forward.

2. One who formerly strewed rushes on the floor at dances.

RUSHINESS, n. [from rushy.] The state of abounding with rushes.

RUSHING, ppr. Moving forward with impetuosity.

RUSHING, n. A violent driving of any thing; rapid or tumultuous course. Isaiah 17:12-13.

RUSH-LIGHT, n.

1. The light of a rush-candle; a small feeble light.

2. A rush-candle.