[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/roadrunner/)

[dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [R](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/r/) / roadrunner

# roadrunner

noun (a roadrunner, roadrunners)

«roadrunner» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A roadrunner is a fast bird of the deserts of the south-western USA and Mexico that prefers to run rather than fly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roadrunner/#m1)
2. The Road Runner is a cartoon bird who always escapes from a hungry coyote (a name of a character). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roadrunner/#m2)

### In the lessons

In nature lessons about deserts the roadrunner shows how animals adapt: it can run about 30 km per hour, eats lizards, snakes and insects, and is a kind of cuckoo. Children also know it from the old «Road Runner» cartoons, where it says «meep meep». Phrases: «greater roadrunner», «as fast as a roadrunner».

### Examples

- A roadrunner dashed across the desert road in front of our car. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roadrunner/#x1)
- Roadrunners can catch and eat small rattlesnakes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roadrunner/#x2)
- The roadrunner is the state bird of New Mexico. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roadrunner/#x3)
- It can fly, but it would rather run. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roadrunner/#x4)
- In the cartoon, the coyote never catches the Road Runner. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roadrunner/#x5)
- Roadrunners sunbathe in the morning to warm up after cold desert nights. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roadrunner/#x6)
- Our class drew a desert food chain with a roadrunner in it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roadrunner/#x7)

### Note

Plural «roadrunners». Written as one word (also «road runner»). The cartoon name is usually «Road Runner» with capitals. Myth: real roadrunners do not say «meep meep»; they make cooing and clattering sounds.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «roadrunner» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/roadrunner/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«roadrunner» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/roadrunner.html) on Mova free.