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elopement

American  
[ih-lohp-muhnt] / ɪˈloʊp mənt /

noun

  1. an act or instance of running off secretly, especially to be married.

  2. an act or instance of a patient or person in care leaving a hospital, care facility, or safe area independently without notifying anyone.

    Nursing homes need strategies to cope with elopement.

  3. a small wedding ceremony with few or no guests and often without a reception.

    The couple had a quiet elopement in Dublin with only their parents and an officiant present.

Other Word Forms

  • nonelopement noun

Etymology

Origin of elopement

First recorded in 1600–10; elope ( def. ) + -ment ( def. )

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.