rat run

plural rat runs

1. idiomaticA small, usually minor road used by a significant amount of traffic as a short cut or to avoid congestion on more major routes.

   This week Wykeham Street in Scarborough was named as the worst rat run in Britain. […] A ‘rat run’ sounds like some sort of charity jog by rodents keen to improve their image, but it is of course a side street that suffers from being heavily used by through-traffic as a short-cut.

   2007, John O'Farrell, I Have A Bream, Black Swan, →ISBN, page 43

present singular third person rat runs · participle present rat running · past rat ran

1. idiomaticTo drive through residential streets to avoid congestion on the main roads.

   Synonyms: divebomb