run away

British  

verb

1. to take flight; escape

2. to go away; depart

3. (of a horse) to gallop away uncontrollably

4. 1. to abscond or elope with

      he ran away with his boss's daughter

   2. to make off with; steal

   3. to escape from the control of

      his enthusiasm ran away with him

   4. to win easily or be assured of victory in (a competition)

      he ran away with the race

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noun

1. 1. a person or animal that runs away

   2. ( as modifier )

      a runaway horse

2. the act or an instance of running away

3. (modifier) occurring as a result of the act of eloping

   a runaway wedding

4. (modifier) (of a race, victory, etc) easily won

   a runaway ten-shot victory

run away Idioms  

1. 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]

2. 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]

3. 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 .

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Example Sentences

This was evil’s hour: we could not run away from it.

From Literature

“I think they are frightened of the wind. They want to run away like we are, but they cannot. Why is the wind blowing so hard? Why is it so angry?”

From Literature

‘Then why did you run away from our camp?’

From Literature

After what happened in L.A. back in December, the Lakers were determined not to let Houston run away with the game.

From Los Angeles Times

“You were about to kiss me. And then you ran away, out of the blue.”

From Literature

Related Words

• avoid
• depart
• disappear
• dodge
• elude
• emerge
• evade
• flee
• fly
• leave
• run
• slip
• slip away
• vanish