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.
The Boé chimpanzees performing the behavior are unhabituated; they are not used to humans, meaning that we cannot observe individual chimpanzees on foot because they will run away.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
And I don’t think we should run away from that.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
"There is fear because many residents have run away and are yet to return," says the traditional ruler of the area, Oba Tajudeen Abioye, whose niece was among the kidnapped children.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
In earlier 2026 head-to-heads, Seehorn won the Globe but Russell the Actor — her most prestigious prize and an indicator Seehorn has not run away with the race.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Someday, she would try to run away and return to her true home.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
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.
