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.

---

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

---

flee ² British  

/ fliː /

verb

1. a Scot word for fly 1

---

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

This was just 15 minutes after they had arrested 45-year-old Australian man Simon Peter Carman, who was allegedly "preparing to flee the country", they said.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Whales seem less inclined to flee from electric boats, said marine scientist Giulia Ercoletti, now the head of training at Brim.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

People who had to flee their houses during the devastating Stourbridge fires are starting to return home.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

France, which has already suffered a series of major fires this season, was facing another one in the southwest that has already forced more than 500 people to flee, officials said Friday.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

I hear a nightingale warbling in a wood half a mile off; no moving form is visible, no coming step audible; but that perfume increases: I must flee.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Surprise, surprise: Tony doesn’t get the fellowship, and instead, flees his childhood home early in the morning to catch a bus and a ferry to Provincetown.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

Fearing the worst, Kendal flees with Rosie to London to accept refuge from Rico, Kendal’s old boss at Bon Temps.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

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

She performs it in a gondola, floating down the catwalk as she flees the chaos of the main stage for the sanctuary of her piano.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2025

Anxiety flees to rules and order for comfort, and she’s broken a rule today, being here without running here.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

Hughes fled to a City Center station of Philadelphia’s rail system, according to the department.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

They also cite the potential for what is known as “chain refoulement,” when asylum seekers and refugees are sent by the third country back to the home from which they originally fled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Demographer Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos estimates it is now as low as eight million, only slightly more than 67 years ago, when Fidel Castro declared, "The tyrant has fled... the revolution has triumphed!"

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

In January 2024, another Japanese macaque went on the run for more than five days after it fled the park, apparently after a fight with other male monkeys.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

I clearly descend from the ones who fled, but I’m starting to think I may have had family who stayed.

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar

Describing fleeing his homeland as a child, Dalibor said "we had basically nothing".

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

So while it is great fun to speculate — is it just another example of rich folk fleeing California’s high taxes?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

The turning point was the 2015 crisis when more than one million people, most fleeing Syria’s civil war, poured into Europe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

His late father, Peter, was recruited as a listener after fleeing Germany where he was detained in Buchenwald concentration camp.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

Their strides were evenly matched as they closed the gap between themselves and the fleeing beastkeepers.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

Related Words

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