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.
“When you’re a kid, you want to run away from home and spread your wings,” the singer says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
But their attempt to run away together—both understand their relationship would fuel scandal in the town—goes unhappily awry, and Benjamin ends up finding work on a fishing boat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
Three months ago, he moved $60,000 from our joint savings into a brokerage account because he thought the market would run away from us.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
It’s not something to shun and shy away and run away from.
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026
A puffin marches into battle in order to heroically run away, or fly away, but in either case, it’s the “away” part that’s crucial.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
