verb
-
to run away from (a place, danger, etc); fly
to flee the country
-
(intr) to run or move quickly; rush; speed
she fled to the door
verb
noun
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
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.
Vocabulary lists containing flee
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act IV
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Passover Vocabulary
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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.
The Times has reported that several residents did recall some instances of sheriff’s deputies directing residents to flee before the widespread evacuation alerts were issued, but the extent of those efforts is still not clear.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
Dong Guangping, a 68-year-old former police officer, had been detained and jailed in China several times for his activism and some of his past attempts to flee the country.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
In a nearby tent was Zuhoor Musa Abdul Rahman, a 30-year-old housewife who recounted with unnatural calm the horrors that spurred her to flee El Fasher, a city some 300 miles east of Obeid.
From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2026
Contrary to what some may think, birds cannot always easily flee the dangers of war, zoologist Ewa Wegrzyn, from the Polish University of Rzeszow, said.
From Barron's • May 20, 2026
Down below was a large creature that did not flee as I approached, and another, much smaller, swimming next to it—a baby.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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.
