flee

American  

[flee] / fli /

verb (used without object)

• flees,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fled,
  past participle,  past
• fleeing
  present participle

1. to run away, as from danger or pursuers; take flight.

2. to move swiftly; fly; speed.

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verb (used with object)

• flees,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fled,
  past participle,  past
• fleeing
  present participle

1. to run away from (a place, person, etc.).

   Synonyms:

   elude, shun, avoid, escape, evade

flee ¹ British  

/ fliː /

verb

1. to run away from (a place, danger, etc); fly

   to flee the country

2. (intr) to run or move quickly; rush; speed

   she fled to the door

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flee ² British  

/ fliː /

verb

1. a Scot word for fly 1

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noun

1. a Scot word for fly 2

Usage

What does flee mean? To flee is to run away or escape from a dangerous or otherwise negative situation. Much less commonly, flee can be used to mean to move at a fast pace. The past tense of flee is fled. Example: He was forced to flee his home as a result of the impending battle.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• fleer
  noun
• outflee
  verb (used with object)
• unfleeing
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• fleeing
  present
• fled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• flee
  simple
• flees
  simple
• have fled
  perfect
• has fled
  perfect
• am fleeing
  progressive
• are fleeing
  progressive
• is fleeing
  progressive
• have been fleeing
  perfect progressive
• has been fleeing
  perfect progressive

Past

• fled
  simple
• had fled
  perfect
• was fleeing
  progressive
• were fleeing
  progressive
• had been fleeing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will flee
  simple
• will have fled
  perfect
• will be fleeing
  progressive
• will have been fleeing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of flee

First recorded before 900; Middle English fleen, Old English flēon; cognate with Old High German flichan ( German fliehen ), Gothic thliuhan; compare Old English fleogan “to fly”; see also fly ²

Explanation

If you bolt, scram, skedaddle, or get the heck of out Dodge, you flee. You run away fast. Don’t confuse flee with "flea." They sound alike, but the second kind is an insect whose bites make you itch. We get the word flee from Old English fleon. When you flee, you get away as quickly as you can. You might even take flight to escape — usually from a dangerous place or situation. In a moment of panic after stealing a cookie from the cookie jar, you might decide to flee the scene of the crime.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

flee flees fled fleeing

If agents make mistakes as Meta works out the kinks, the risk is high that users will lose trust and flee.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

"Families are being forced to flee for the second or third time in this conflict, with almost nothing left," Amy Pope, the IOM's director general, warned last week.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

The UN's migration agency said Monday that the renewed fighting in the Arab world's poorest country had forced 93,864 people to flee their homes.

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

Within minutes he was forced to flee from the house with only the clothes he was wearing along with his car keys.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

He had gone to Uganda when he had had to flee Southern Sudan, then he had heard that Yar was at Kakuma, so he came there to be with her.

From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau

After one brutal experience, he flees into the woods.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026

In Brontë’s book, Isabella marries Heathcliff naively believing he might shape up into a gentleman and flees with their son when she realizes that is out of the question.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026

When he stumbles upon the hut of a shepherd who flees at the sight of him, he “greedily devoured the remnants of the shepherd’s breakfast, which consisted of bread, cheese, milk and wine.”

From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2025

This creates a rare market asymmetry: The public sees “bubble” and flees everything AI-related, while sophisticated capital is making precise bets on deflation survivors.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2025

Everyone flees before it; everyone yields to its impetus, unable to oppose it in any way.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

Late one night, their dad woke them up, told them to pack their bags as quickly as possible and fled with them to Reno, leaving their pet pit bull behind.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

In response, many crypto asset firms fled the U.S. for foreign shores.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

As a child, Ghobadi fled Iran with her family during the Islamic Revolution and settled in Southern California.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Police said surveillance had been intensified in the area as officers sought to track down those who fled.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Yes, it was probably Booth who gave the name Booth to Sergeant Cobb at the bridge and fled into Maryland.

From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson

Incident command was ultimately forced to relocate three times, as command posts were inundated with fleeing residents and eventually the fire itself.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

In one instance, we filmed by drone an Iranian captain with his crew hastily fleeing inside the ship’s structure after realizing that our team was capturing his image via drone.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

This is partly due to direct impacts on those countries and partly due disruption across the USA and people fleeing from it.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026

Before becoming an MP she managed a refuge for women and children who were fleeing domestic violence.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

They followed along, trying to keep out of the way of the fleeing people.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

Related Words

• depart
• desert
• fly
• get
• jump
• leave
• retreat
• take off
• vanish