runoff
[ruhn-awf, -of]
- something that drains or flows off, as rain that flows off from the land in streams.
- a final contest held to determine a victor after earlier contests have eliminated the weaker contestants.
- a deciding final contest held after one in which there has been no decisive victor, as between two contestants who have tied for first place.
- Also called rundown. a continual or prolonged reduction, especially in quantity or supply: a runoff in bank deposits; a sharp runoff in business inventories.
- Stock Exchange. the final prices appearing on the ticker after the closing bell is rung for the trading day.
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Origin of runoff
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for runoff
Contemporary Examples
So then-President George H.W. Bush and other prominent Republicans endorsed Treen in the House runoff.
But what if a Louisiana runoff will determine which party controls the Senate?
Tyner went on to note that correct legal remedy if the runoff was called into question was “a new election.”
Under Mississippi law, if no candidate receives 50 percent, a runoff is mandated, held three weeks later.
Cochran just flat outworked his opponent all through the runoff.
Historical Examples
Scrub on the remainder, however, serves to stabilize the soil of the forest lands against erosion and to slow the runoff of water.
Area Handbook for BulgariaEugene K. Keefe, Violeta D. Baluyut, William Giloane, Anne K. Long, James M. Moore, and Neda A. Walpole
They are spring-fed, and their runoff drains into Turkey Cock Run.
Green Spring FarmRoss Netherton
Another part may penetrate a little distance into the zone of weathering and then join the runoff.
The Economic Aspect of GeologyC. K. Leith
Geological conditions are frequently of great importance in their influence on the quantity and regularity of runoff.
The Economic Aspect of GeologyC. K. Leith
Runoff is checked by a sod and less water is used by a sod in mid-summer, after it has been mowed, than by a heavy cover crop.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Twenty-Fourth Annual MeetingNorthern Nut Growers Association
Word Origin and History for runoff
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper