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Synonyms

run off

British  

verb

  1. (intr) to depart in haste

  2. (tr) to produce quickly, as copies on a duplicating machine

  3. to drain (liquid) or (of liquid) to be drained

  4. (tr) to decide (a race) by a runoff

  5. (tr) to get rid of (weight, etc) by running

  6. (intr) (of a flow of liquid) to begin to dry up; cease to run

    1. to steal; purloin

    2. to elope with

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

    1. an extra race to decide the winner after a tie

    2. a contest or election held after a previous one has failed to produce a clear victory for any one person

  2. that portion of rainfall that runs into streams as surface water rather than being absorbed into ground water or evaporating

  3. the overflow of a liquid from a container

  4. grazing land for store cattle

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
run off Idioms  

  1. Escape; see run away , def. 2.

  2. Flow off, drain, as in By noon all the water had run off the driveway . [Early 1700s]

  3. Print, duplicate, or copy, as in We ran off 200 copies of the budget . [Late 1800s]

  4. Decide a contest or competition, as in The last two events will be run off on Tuesday . [Late 1800s]

  5. Also, run someone out . Force or drive someone away, as in The security guard ran off the trespassers , or They ran him out of town . [Early 1700s]

  6. Produce or perform quickly and easily, as in After years of practice, he could run off a sermon in a couple of hours . [Late 1600s]

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.

Successive rounds of bond-buying during the financial crisis and the Covid pandemic pushed it to a peak near $9 trillion before the Fed began letting some holdings run off.

From Barron's • May 6, 2026

It’s not necessarily a scenario where you run off and do it tomorrow.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

Many dogs are microchipped so they can be identified more easily if they run off or get lost.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

The men then run off towards Richmond Green.

From BBC • Feb. 1, 2026

Seven had tried to congratulate her in person, but Poppy had run off before she got a chance to and, when she’d sent her a message on the way home, Poppy hadn’t written back.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega

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.