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rat-running

British  

noun

  1. the practice of driving through residential side streets to avoid congested main roads

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • rat-run noun
  • rat-runner noun

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Chairman of Lenham Parish Council, John Britt, described seeing "rat-running along the county lanes to avoid the queues" with "forty tonne lorries going along single track roads with no passing places".

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2022

The county council said its £198m project would tackle rat-running and help cut vehicles' overall carbon emissions, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

From BBC • Feb. 2, 2022

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.