run away
Britishverb
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to take flight; escape
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to go away; depart
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(of a horse) to gallop away uncontrollably
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to abscond or elope with
he ran away with his boss's daughter
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to make off with; steal
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to escape from the control of
his enthusiasm ran away with him
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to win easily or be assured of victory in (a competition)
he ran away with the race
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noun
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a person or animal that runs away
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( as modifier )
a runaway horse
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the act or an instance of running away
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(modifier) occurring as a result of the act of eloping
a runaway wedding
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(modifier) (of a race, victory, etc) easily won
a runaway ten-shot victory
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Flee, escape, as in Our dog is no watchdog; he runs away from strangers , or Our six-year-old said he'd run away from home . [Late 1300s]
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Also, run off . Leave secretly, especially to elope, as in She ran away from home when she was only thirteen , or They ran off to Maryland and got married by a justice of the peace . [Early 1600s]
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it won't run away . An object, activity, or issue will not disappear, as in You can leave, but when you come back the mess in the kitchen will still be there—it won't run away, you know! This jocular assurance of permanence dates from the late 1800s. Also see run away with .
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.
“We can’t run away from it, it’s all around us,” Navarrete said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
“I don’t run away from things. I wanted to stay here and help L.A. get back to where it was and is capable of being.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
"There's going to be furore internationally in this coming week and, if they just cover their heads and run away, it's just going to compound it."
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
“They’d much rather run the risk of hiking now and having to cut later than sitting back and letting inflation run away from them,” Pantheon’s Vistesen said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
Why would the trusted seamstress and maidservant of Martha Washington, who had been at her side for more than ten years, run away in the first place?
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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.
