run·ner / ˈrənər/ • n. 1. a person who runs, esp. in a specified way: a fast runner. ∎  a person who runs competitively as a sport or hobby: a marathon runner. ∎  a horse that runs in a particular race: there were only four runners. ∎  a messenger, collector, or agent for a bank, bookmaker, or other organization. ∎  Baseball a base runner. ∎  a messenger in the army. 2. [in comb.] a person who smuggles specified goods into or out of a country or area: a drug-runner. 3. a rod, groove, or blade on which something slides. ∎  each of the long pieces on the underside of a sled that forms the contact in sliding. ∎  (often runners) a roller for moving a heavy article. ∎  a ring capable of slipping or sliding along a strap or rod or through which something may be passed or drawn. ∎  Naut. a rope run through a block. 4. a shoot, typically leafless, that grows from the base of a plant along the surface of the ground and can take root at points along its length. ∎  a plant that spreads by means of such shoots. ∎  a twining plant. 5. a long, narrow rug or strip of carpet, esp. for a hall or stairway. 6. (also runner stone) a revolving millstone.7. a fast-swimming fish of the jack family, occurring in tropical seas.

runner In botany, a long, thin stem that extends along the surface of the soil from the axil of a plant's leaf and serves to propagate the plant. At points (nodes) along its length, a runner has small leaves with buds that develop shoots and roots and turn into small independent plants as the runner dies. Runners are produced by plants such as strawberries and creeping buttercups. See also asexual reproduction

runner A stem that grows horizontally along the soil surface and gives rise to new plants either from axillary or terminal buds. Runners are seen in the creeping buttercup and the strawberry. Offsets, e.g. those of the houseleek, are short runners.