▪ I. ˈrunnable, a.
[f. run v. + -able.]
Of deer: Proper for the chase; warrantable.
| 1884 Fortescue in Longm. Mag. Sept. 491 Two tines on the top of one horn..was in itself judged sufficient to make a warrantable or runable deer. 1884 Jefferies Red Deer ii. 33 His coat was in perfect condition,..and he was a runnable deer, that is, of age and size sufficient for the chase. |
Add: Also (erron.) runable. 2. a. Capable of being run, in various senses; manageable, operable, negotiable; spec. of rivers, waterways, etc.: sufficiently deep to be navigable, esp. by small boats.
| 1977 Washington Post 28 July iv. 10 (caption) Area whitewater enthusiasts have been bunching up at the few runnable rapids left by the drought in the Potomac River Basin. 1983 Ibid. 8 Apr. (Weekend Suppl.) 49/1 But plenty of other little creeks were runnable that weekend, still high enough from earlier rains to make passage possible by canoe or kayak. 1985 New Yorker 26 Aug. 28/3 Yes, darling. I've found a much more runnable house, in Battersea. 1985 Ward's Auto World Aug. 55/1 We have people here fully capable of doing a fully runable prototype vehicle. |
b. Computing. Of a program or instructions: that can be executed, esp. without further compilation or linking; capable of being carried out.
| 1982 Byte Mar. 332/2 Pascal/Z..requires three separate CP/M commands to transform a source file into a runnable program. 1989 UNIX Rev. Feb. 79/1 Having written the code, one usually wishes to actually run the program. The intermediate step, that of translating your code into runable binaries, is what this column is about. |
▪ II. runnable, -ably
dial. ff. renable, -ably.