run away
Britishverb
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to take flight; escape
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to go away; depart
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(of a horse) to gallop away uncontrollably
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to abscond or elope with
he ran away with his boss's daughter
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to make off with; steal
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to escape from the control of
his enthusiasm ran away with him
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to win easily or be assured of victory in (a competition)
he ran away with the race
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noun
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a person or animal that runs away
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( as modifier )
a runaway horse
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the act or an instance of running away
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(modifier) occurring as a result of the act of eloping
a runaway wedding
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(modifier) (of a race, victory, etc) easily won
a runaway ten-shot victory
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Flee, escape, as in Our dog is no watchdog; he runs away from strangers , or Our six-year-old said he'd run away from home . [Late 1300s]
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Also, run off . Leave secretly, especially to elope, as in She ran away from home when she was only thirteen , or They ran off to Maryland and got married by a justice of the peace . [Early 1600s]
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it won't run away . An object, activity, or issue will not disappear, as in You can leave, but when you come back the mess in the kitchen will still be there—it won't run away, you know! This jocular assurance of permanence dates from the late 1800s. Also see run away with .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Everyone really mobbed him so a member of staff quickly rescued him and put him behind the desk for a cheeky photo by our celebrity leaderboard, and then he ran away and left."
From BBC
Instead of sitting down to process these conflicts, Jay decides to run away from them, dropping out of his next movie to follow Daisy to Europe.
From Los Angeles Times
Livermore ran away from home at age 14 and got work as a “board boy,” posting stock prices that came in on the telegraph.
“And sometimes, they run away with your money.”
From Los Angeles Times
She did have a "genuine link" to a VIP box, said her solicitor, who described it as a sad tale, and a lie that ran away.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
