run down vs slur

run down

verb
  • To criticize someone or an organisation, often unfairly. 

  • To chase till the object pursued is captured or exhausted. 

  • To describe in the form of a rundown, a rough outline or summary. 

  • To reduce the size or stock levels of a business, often with a view to closure. 

  • To run against and sink, as a vessel. 

  • To read quickly a list or other short text. 

  • To find something or someone after searching for a long time. 

  • To lose power slowly. Used for a machine, battery, or other powered device. 

  • To decline in quality or condition. 

  • To crush; to overthrow; to overbear. 

  • To hit someone with a car or other vehicle and injure or kill them. 

slur

verb
  • To insult or slight. 

  • To run together; to articulate poorly. 

  • To play legato or without separate articulation; to connect (notes) smoothly. 

  • To soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace. 

  • To cover over; to disguise; to conceal; to pass over lightly or with little notice. 

  • To cheat, as by sliding a die; to trick. 

noun
  • In knitting machines, a device for depressing the sinkers successively by passing over them. 

  • An insinuation or innuendo. 

  • An act of running one's words together; poor verbal articulation. 

  • A mark, stain, or smear; (by extension) a slight occasion of reproach. 

  • A disparaging insult or slight, particularly one used to denigrate a specific group. 

  • A set of notes that are played legato, without separate articulation. 

  • The symbol indicating a legato passage, written as an arc over the slurred notes (not to be confused with a tie). 

How often have the words run down and slur occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )