flee

[ flee ]

/ fli /

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See synonyms for: flee / fled / fleeing on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), fled

[fled], /flɛd/, flee·ing.

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

to move swiftly; fly; speed.

verb (used with object), fled, flee·ing.

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

OTHER WORDS FOR flee

3 evade, escape, avoid, shun, elude.

See synonyms for flee on Thesaurus.com

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CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

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Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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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 fly²

OTHER WORDS FROM flee

outflee, verb (used with object), out·fled, out·flee·ing.un·flee·ing, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH flee

flea, flee

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use flee in a sentence

That morning, as the wind picked up, Mitali Mondol and her husband, Animesh, fled their house, leaving behind everything they owned.
Asia’s biggest climate migration|Konstantin Kakaes|November 19, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Like the thousands of individuals and families fleeing conditions in Central America, they enter the United States from Mexico.
The Africans Among Them|Truthbetold|November 13, 2020|TruthBeTold.news
Students and professors alike fled the city, and Newton returned home for the ensuing year, until the danger had passed.
Historical detectives discover more first editions of Isaac Newton’s Principia|Jennifer Ouellette|November 11, 2020|Ars Technica
Responding to a report of a vehicle crash, police located juveniles who fled the scene and determined that the vehicle was stolen from Fairfax County.
Alexandria and Arlington crime watch||November 11, 2020|Washington Post

When the clerk pulled out a knife, the male fled empty-handed.
Southern Maryland crime report||November 11, 2020|Washington Post
But he loses his backpack in the process and it stays with the cops as he flees down the walkway toward Brooklyn.
Protesters Slimed This Good Samaritan Cop|Michael Daly|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Rick flees the underworld, in this case the prison, and returns to the world as a hero.
The Walking Dead’s Luke Skywalker: Rick Grimes Is the Perfect Modern-Day Mythical Hero|Regina Lizik|October 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To try to find some happy ending, in a way, falsifies, flees from the reality.
Ron Rosenbaum on Hitler, Hollywood, and Quantifying Evil|William O’Connor|July 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Birds do it, bees do it, even educated flees do it—thousands and thousands and thousands of times a day.
How to Hitchhike a Plane—and Survive|Kent Sepkowitz|April 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the wild, killer whales vie for dominance but the subdominant animal then flees the scene and the conflict subsides.
‘Blackfish’ Director: Killer Whales Don’t Belong in Captivity|Gabriela Cowperthwaite|October 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
To him who flees love, its nature is explicable; to you, who are still under its influence, it remains a riddle.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 (of 7) -- Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems|Geoffrey Chaucer
When a dog flees without yelping he's a badly frightened creature.
In Search of the Unknown|Robert W. Chambers
Oswald rises quickly, his face full of horror, and flees in the direction of the Abbey, coughing violently.
The Saxons|Edwin Davies Schoonmaker
The crowd flees, leaving Jardin holding the dwarf by the collar standing in the road.
The Saxons|Edwin Davies Schoonmaker
Primitive man flees from the corpse—indeed, even from those who are sick, if he sees that death is approaching.
Elements of Folk Psychology|Wilhelm Wundt

British Dictionary definitions for flee (1 of 2)

flee¹

/ (fliː) /

verb flees, fleeing or fled

to run away from (a place, danger, etc); flyto flee the country

(intr) to run or move quickly; rush; speedshe fled to the door

Derived forms of flee

fleer, noun

Word Origin for flee

Old English flēon; related to Old Frisian fliā, Old High German fliohan, Gothic thliuhan

British Dictionary definitions for flee (2 of 2)

flee²

/ (fliː) /

verb

a Scot word for fly 1

noun

a Scot word for fly 2

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012