| 释义 |
ˈrundown, n.
Also run-down and as two words.
[f. run v.]
1. U.S. Baseball. An action whereby defensive players attempt to tag out a runner caught off base between them. Also attrib., as rundown play.
1908Spalding's Base Ball Guide 69 Chance forced Tinker and then working the steal stunt for a run down was put out. 1946Sun (Baltimore) 27 May 15 (caption) Charlie Keller, the Yankee's slugger, is shown being caught in a rundown in the ninth inning of the first game. 1971L. Koppett N.Y. Times Guide Spectator Sports i. 30 Less reprehensible mixups occur on rundown plays. 1978Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. c 3/1 Chilly, wet weather prevented the pirates from a scheduled workout on pickoffs, rundowns and cutoff throws.
2. U.S. Horse-racing slang. A list of entries and betting odds. Chiefly attrib. (see quot. 1942).
1935Sun (Baltimore) 12 Jan. 7/8 Sergt. Ignatius Benesch, who led the raiders, said the bookmaking activities were being carried out on the second floor... Sergeant Benesch and his squad took several telephones and a quantity of run-down sheets to the station as evidence. 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang 102 733/2 Rundown board, the bookmaker's board on which is posted the sheet of entries and odds; rundown sheet, slate, a list of entries and betting odds posted by a bookmaker. 1948Sun (Baltimore) 17 Dec. 12/5 He observed Yateman making off with a board containing run-down sheets, while Hoffman was attempting to flee with a money bag and race-bet slips. 1951Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xvi. 55 Run down,..the current change of odds in a booking establishment, caused by fluctuations of opinion or by a flurry of betting. Ibid. 56 Run down sheet,..a printed list provided for the patrons of the book. It contains the day's entries and the morning line odds and is used by the gambler to keep track of the fluctuations in odds.
3. slang (orig. U.S.). A (usu. verbal) listing of items of information; a summary or brief account of pertinent facts; a short description.
1945Sun (Baltimore) 21 Feb. 7/4 In between taking care of the general's two uniforms..Orderly Powder gave inquiring correspondents a short rundown. 1949Tuscaloosa (Alabama) News 8 Oct. 1/8 Here's a quick run-down of major disputes which already have made idle more than a million workers. 1953N.Y. Times 29 June 29/1 A run-down on market conditions for various steel products follows. 1960Guardian 21 Sept. 6/2 The movie guide provides a brief run-down on each film and assesses its suitability for children. 1966T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 v. 105 John Nefastis..brought out his Machine... ‘You know how this works?’ ‘Stanley gave me a kind of rundown.’ 1971Farmer & Stockbreeder 23 Feb. 8/2 He gave a strangely fragmented rundown of British Rail policy as it affected horticulture in the West. 1977I. Shaw Beggarman, Thief iii. i. 184 I'm going to tell them they got to give me a complete rundown on the family.
4. A gradual and sustained reduction in the size or scope of an organization, enterprise, or activity.
1948Hansard Commons 8 Mar. 931, I feel that the timing of the run-down [of the Navy] has not been very satisfactory. 1955Times 5 Aug. 7/1 A few minor financial worries have also intruded. So far all have been surmounted, and the ‘run down’ of British forces is proceeding swiftly and smoothly. 1957Economist 21 Dec. 1068/2 If informal agreements can be reached with newly independent Commonwealth countries about the pace of the run-down of their balances, so be it. 1960Guardian 10 Nov. 3/3 The telegraph service again showed a deficit, but the rate of run-down in the traffic has been checked. 1973Listener 14 June 785/3 By attracting people away from the city centre, they [sc. ringways] generate the run-down of the city centre. 1978Daily Mirror 12 Jan. 2/2 They produced a report which could lead to an even swifter and more drastic rundown in the industry than has been planned. |
