1
as in smuggler
a person who imports or exports goods secretly and illegally
a drug runner
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2
as in messenger
one that carries a message or does an errand
sent a runner to tell them that all was ready for the feast
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of runner
Fields, a former No. 10 overall pick by the Chicago Bears, is an elite runner who has shown flashes as a passer but is just 14-30 as an NFL starter.
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Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 2 Jan. 2025
Some body lean and lack of steering connectivity means that the car is best as a comfortable cruiser and errand runner.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Dec. 2024
Use the roster of fielders as pinch runners for them and have all baseball games be pitcher’s duels at 23-19?
—Guest Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 26 Dec. 2024
As a result, the elite runners who have followed in Samuelson’s footsteps never have known a world in which women were barred from long-distance races.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 26 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for runner 
Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 2 Jan. 2025
Some body lean and lack of steering connectivity means that the car is best as a comfortable cruiser and errand runner.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Dec. 2024
Use the roster of fielders as pinch runners for them and have all baseball games be pitcher’s duels at 23-19?
—Guest Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 26 Dec. 2024
As a result, the elite runners who have followed in Samuelson’s footsteps never have known a world in which women were barred from long-distance races.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 26 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for runner
Recent Examples of Synonyms for runner
Noun
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From Mexico: She and her daughter were locked without food in a hotel room for a day, where smugglers were demanding an additional thousand dollars before the two of them would be allowed to continue to the border.Jordan Salama, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025
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The 50-year-old is the latest to be sentenced in a network of human remains smugglers that stretched from the morgue of the Harvard University Medical School to an Arkansas mortuary.Michael Loria, USA TODAY, 4 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Despite the metadata caution, my advice remains to use WhatsApp as your daily messenger given its reach and to use Signal for anything more sensitive or secure.Zak Doffman, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024
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However, Sagittarius isn’t the messenger planet’s ideal place to be, as this Fire sign’s love for big-picture thinking can often overwhelm Mercury’s fact-checking nature, leading to overpromising or losing sight of the details.Valerie Mesa, People.com, 15 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Personnel were emptying out tabulator bins for Ward 65 and found a sealed courier bag with 68 unprocessed ballots — 67 of them from Ward 65 and one from Ward 68.Maia Pandey, Journal Sentinel, 26 Dec. 2024
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Authorities said Ramos-Soto was one of the couriers posing as a bail bondsman.Staff report, Hartford Courant, 24 Dec. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Runner.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/runner. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.
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