runner

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun someone who imports or exports without paying duties
  2. noun someone who travels on foot by running
  3. noun a person who is employed to deliver messages or documents

Etymology

From Middle English rennere, rynner, urnare, equivalent to run + -er. Cognate with Old Norse rennari (“runner; messenger”). Displaced earlier Middle English runel (“runner”), from Old English rynel (“runner”; also “messenger, courier”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

smuggler, contrabandist, moon curser, moon-curser

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