run down

denigrare, criticare

Parlare male di qualcuno o qualcosa, spesso ingiustamente.

In inglese semplice: To say bad things about someone or something, often unfairly.

• Stop running down my friends.
• She ran the company down in her interview.
• Why do you always run yourself down?

Come si usa: run someone/something down (He keeps running his former employer down.)

Sinonimi: criticize, put down, disparage

Contrari: praise

Espressioni comuni: run down someone, run someone down

scaricarsi, esaurirsi

Detto di una batteria o macchina: perdere gradualmente energia fino a smettere di funzionare.

In inglese semplice: If a battery or machine does this, it slowly loses its power and stops working.

• The battery will run down soon.
• My watch ran down overnight.
• Leaving the headlights on makes the battery run down.

Sinonimi: lose power, go flat

Espressioni comuni: batteries run down, clocks run down

investire

Colpire una persona con un veicolo, ferendola o uccidendola.

In inglese semplice: If a driver does this to someone, their vehicle hits and hurts or kills that person.

• A car ran down a pedestrian.
• She was run down while walking home.
• The driver nearly ran me down at the crossing.

Come si usa: run someone down (A speeding driver ran a cyclist down.)

Sinonimi: run over, hit

Espressioni comuni: run down someone, run someone down

ridimensionare, ridurre

Ridurre gradualmente l’attività o le scorte di un’impresa, spesso prima di chiuderla.

In inglese semplice: To gradually make a business smaller or reduce its supplies, often before closing it.

• The company is running down its stocks.
• They ran down the factory before selling it.
• We will run down operations over the next year.

Come si usa: run something down (They are running their stocks down before closing the warehouse.)

Sinonimi: scale down, reduce

Contrari: expand

Espressioni comuni: run down stocks, run down operations

rintracciare, scovare

Trovare qualcuno o qualcosa dopo una ricerca lunga o difficile.

In inglese semplice: To find someone or something after a long or difficult search.

• I finally ran down his address.
• The detective ran down a witness in another town.
• Can you run down a copy of that report?

Come si usa: run someone/something down (I eventually ran down the missing document.)

Sinonimi: track down, locate, find

Espressioni comuni: run down someone, run down information

scorrere, leggere rapidamente

Leggere velocemente un elenco o un breve testo.

In inglese semplice: To quickly read a list or short piece of writing.

• I ran down the list of names.
• Run down the menu and see what looks good.
• She was running down her notes before the meeting.

Come si usa: run down something (Let me run down the list before we decide.)

Sinonimi: scan, skim, look through

Espressioni comuni: run down a list, run down the names