run like a dry creek

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English

Etymology

A pun on two senses of run: to flow (as in "running water") and to stand for election.

Verb

run like a dry creek (third-person singular simple present runs like a dry creek, present participle running like a dry creek, simple past ran like a dry creek, past participle run like a dry creek)

  1. (simile, US, colloquial, politics) To run for political office with little chance of success.
    • 1952, LIFE, volume 33, number 10, page 49:
      The Scripps-Howard newspapers, which are supporting Eisenhower, criticized Ike for "running like a dry creek."
    • 1997, New Statesman, page 18:
      The last of the six candidates, Stephen Dorrell, did not even get off the starting-blocks. His campaign ran like a dry creek from day one.
    • 2009, W. J. Rorabaugh, The Real Making of the President:
      One Illinois delegate said, "I saw Lodge on television today, and he'll run like a dry creek."
  2. (simile, US, colloquial) To run (in various senses) badly or not at all.
    • 1956, American Mercury, volume 83, number 390, page 153:
      Carlyle had a brief trial in the big leagues with the Red Sox and the Yankees. But he ran like a dry creek and was weak of arm.
    • 1985, Jay Richter, Where credit was due: the creation of the National Consumer Cooperative Bank, page 24:
      The League knew little about lobbving and its cash flow ran like a dry creek. Small and big business were against a consumer cooperative bank bill.
    • 1989, David L. Moore, Dark Sky, Dark Land:
      The days stretch ahead, dull and tedious, and the camp seems to be doing nothing, going nowhere, running like a dry creek.

Related terms

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