runaway

American  

[ruhn-uh-wey] / ˈrʌn əˌweɪ /

noun

1. a person who runs away; fugitive; deserter.

2. a horse or team that has broken away from control.

3. the act of running away.

4. a decisive or easy victory.

5. a young person, especially a teenager, who has run away from home.

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adjective

1. having run away; escaped; fugitive.

2. (of a horse or other animal) having escaped from the control of the rider or driver.

3. pertaining to or accomplished by running away or eloping.

   a runaway marriage.

4. easily won, as a contest.

   a runaway victory at the polls.

   Synonyms:

   complete , absolute

5. unchecked; rampant.

   runaway prices.

6. Informal.  deserting or revolting against one's group, duties, expected conduct, or the like, especially to establish or join a rival group, change one's life drastically, etc..

   The runaway delegates nominated their own candidate.

Etymology

Origin of runaway

First recorded in 1505–15; noun, adj. use of verb phrase run away

Example Sentences

And the tool relies heavily on the underlying artificial-intelligence models of companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic, which are actively competing for the same software engineering users who have made Cursor a runaway hit.

From The Wall Street Journal

Tuesday’s news hit a sensitive spot for investors already uneasy about circular financing, runaway spending and growing competition in AI.

From The Wall Street Journal

They bent recruiting rules, built giant stadiums and were criticized for runaway spending.

From The Wall Street Journal

She was a runaway at 14, lived on the streets and with foster families.

From The Wall Street Journal

Interrupting a runaway process There are several small-molecule drugs that show potential for slowing cyst expansion.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• rampant
• unbridled
• unchecked
• uncontrolled
• unrestrained