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

The police and social workers told Danny that Pili was a runaway, but he knew his sister wouldn’t leave him behind.

From Literature

Inter Milan are the runaway leaders of Serie A with 58 points, eight ahead of city rivals AC Milan, while Napoli, who host Roma this weekend, have 49 in third place.

From Barron's

There was no merrier illustration of the varieties of human experience than this runaway French hit, which was, like “Don Quixote,” translated into English by Smollett in 1748.

From The Wall Street Journal

The show was not an obvious a runaway hit.

From BBC

Then came Odermatt, the in-form Swiss who is the runaway World Cup overall leader with three downhill victories to his name this season.

From Barron's

Related Words

• rampant
• unbridled
• unchecked
• uncontrolled
• unrestrained