runs
n. uncountablen. an unpleasant case of diarrhea. You use this when your stomach is upset and you have to go to the bathroom very often.
n. an acute instance of diarrhea. Informal in register and always used with the definite article.
I think the spicy food gave me the runs.
He had to cancel his presentation at the last minute because he woke up with a bad case of the runs.
Travelers often experience the runs when their digestive systems encounter unfamiliar bacteria in local water supplies, a condition colloquially known by various regional nicknames.
Usually said to allude to the fact that an affected person is frequently running to get to a toilet immediately. Sometimes said to allude to the runniness (runny consistency) of the stool.
Always used with 'the' and functions as a plural noun in some dialects, though it typically takes a singular verb in this specific sense.
I have a runsI have the runsThis slang term for diarrhea is always used with the definite article 'the' and never the indefinite article 'a'.