runoff

5 definitions • 8 examples

an extra vote to decide who wins an election or competition because there is no clear winner after the first vote, often one in which candidates or competitors with the fewest votes are no longer included:

In a run-off for the presidency of the assembly, Santos beat Gutiérrez.

There is no runoff, so the candidate with the most votes wins.

water from rain or melting snow, or liquid from an industrial or farming process, that flows into a place such as a river:

Reduced runoff means less water for irrigation.

The plants are fed and watered via an irrigation system, using run-off from the roof.

Sometimes entire villages are affected by diseases traceable to industrial runoffs in the water supply.

The water is orange because of run-offs from ironstone rock inside the hill.

a second or final election held when no one got enough votes to win an earlier election

water that flows away from high areas to low areas:

Houses and subdivisions can disturb spring water runoff from the mountains.

Runoff is also chemicals and animal excrement that flow into rivers and lakes and pollute the environment:

Stormwater runoff is a major source of water pollution.