(of a mechanism, material, etc) moving smoothly and uninterruptedly
electronics of or relating to a periodic signal that is not synchronized to a timing source
free-running interference produces moving patterns on a television screen
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was not the only free-running forward on show.
From BBC • Dec. 22, 2025
Five minutes later, a free-running Fountas missed the far corner by a whisker.
From Washington Post • May 18, 2022
Thierry Henry, affected for a while by a first-minute head knock, had a splendid, free-running spell after the interval and compelled Buffon to an important stop.
From The Guardian • Mar. 25, 2018
The best arrow in Bob Baffert’s quill, Cupid is a free-running colt but also a lightly raced one.
From New York Times • Apr. 3, 2016
He paused near Tom and spun one of the free-running wheels of the buckboard, and he inspected Tom as though he saw him for the first time.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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.
