From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrun down phrasal verb1 run somebody/something ↔ downTTHIT/BUMP INTO to drive into a person or animal and kill or injure them Their daughter was run down by a car.2 run somebody/something ↔ down informalCRITICIZE to criticize someone or something in a way that is unfair There’s a lot of good things about homeopathic treatment. I’m certainly not running it down.3 TMCif a clock, machine, battery etc runs down, it has no more power and stops working4 REDUCEto make a company, organization etc gradually reduce in size, especially in order to close it in the future, or to gradually reduce in sizerun something ↔ down Many smaller local hospitals are being run down. The business had been running down for a long time.5 if a supply of something runs down, or if you run it down, there gradually becomes less of it Crude oil reserves are running down.run something ↔ down Electricity generating companies are running down stocks and cutting purchases. 6 run down something to read a list of people or things Let me just run down the list of people who’ve been invited.7 run somebody/something downFIND to find someone or something after searching for a long time I finally ran him down at his new office in Glendale. → rundown, run-down → run→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
run down• They buy up rival companies then just run them down.• A lot of people feel run down in the winter months, when the days are short and there's very little sunlight.• Opposition leaders are accusing the government of running down the Health Service.• You're run down -- you need a vacation.run-downˌrun-ˈdown adjective 1 TBCONDITION/STATE OF somethinga building or area that is run-down is in very bad condition a run-down inner-city area2 [not before noun]MIILL someone who is run-down is tired and not healthy You look a bit run-down.Examples from the Corpus
run-down• Since the textile company moved out, the area's gotten very run-down.• The distant fading signals a run-down age of degenerate belief.• He made a fortune buying run-down houses and fixing them up to sell.• The vehicles will be given to the National Association of Boys' Clubs and will tour run-down inner-city areas.• Or is the genuine Dublin culture to be found in the new sprawling suburbs with its run-down libraries and shopping malls?• I find a tiny winding street in the Marais that takes me to a shack in the courtyard of a run-down mansion.• The men were hiding in an abandoned theater in a run-down part of the city.• Meir Ahronson, wearing a bathrobe and a pair of run-down slippers, opened the door.• He was wearing a torn and spotted cotton bathrobe and a pair of run-down slippers.• After they had deposited their bags at the hotel, itself ramshackle and run-down, they had gone on to the hospital.• I was feeling too run-down to go for my morning jog.From Longman Business Dictionaryrun down phrasal verb1[transitive] run something → down to let an organization gradually become smaller or stop workingThe coal industry is being slowly run down.2[intransitive, transitive] run something → down to use a supply of something without replacing itThe Saudis have been running down their financial reserves.They have let their sugar stocks run down to extremely low levels. → run→ See Verb tablerun-downˈrun-down adjectivePROPERTY a building or area that is run-down is in very bad conditionWe have a contract to renovate five run-down apartment buildings. 