scud run

verb

To fly below the bases of low clouds and close to the ground in an attempt to maintain external visual reference in weather ordinarily considered too poor for visual flying.

“When the weather worsened, the pilot elected to scud run and flew into a hill three miles past the end of the runway. I wisely elected to wait until conditions improved.”

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Meanings

verbscud run (third-person singular simple present scud runs, present participle scud running, simple past and past participle scud ran)

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

  1. aeronauticsTo fly below the bases of low clouds and close to the ground in an attempt to maintain external visual reference in weather ordinarily considered too poor for visual flying.

    When the weather worsened, the pilot elected to scud run and flew into a hill three miles past the end of the runway. I wisely elected to wait until conditions improved.

Cite this entry
APA

scud run. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scud%20run

MLA

“scud run.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scud%20run. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scud run,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scud%20run.

Source: scud run on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.