run down

けなす、悪く言う

人や物について悪く言う。不当な批判であることが多い。

やさしい英語で： 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?

使い方： run someone/something down (He keeps running his former employer down.)

類義語： criticize, put down, disparage

反対語： praise

よく使う表現： run down someone, run someone down

電池が切れる、動力が尽きる

電池や機械の力が徐々に尽き、動かなくなる。

やさしい英語で： 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.

類義語： lose power, go flat

よく使う表現： batteries run down, clocks run down

車ではねる、ひき倒す

車で人にぶつかり、けがをさせたり死亡させたりする。

やさしい英語で： 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.

使い方： run someone down (A speeding driver ran a cyclist down.)

類義語： run over, hit

よく使う表現： run down someone, run someone down

縮小する、削減する

事業や在庫を徐々に減らす。閉業に向けて行うことが多い。

やさしい英語で： 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.

使い方： run something down (They are running their stocks down before closing the warehouse.)

類義語： scale down, reduce

反対語： expand

よく使う表現： run down stocks, run down operations

探し出す、突き止める

長く、または苦労して探した末に、人や物を見つける。

やさしい英語で： 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?

使い方： run someone/something down (I eventually ran down the missing document.)

類義語： track down, locate, find

よく使う表現： run down someone, run down information

ざっと読む、目を通す

一覧や短い文章をさっと読む。

やさしい英語で： 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.

使い方： run down something (Let me run down the list before we decide.)

類義語： scan, skim, look through

よく使う表現： run down a list, run down the names