runaway

[ ruhn-uh-wey ]

/ ˈrʌn əˌweɪ /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for runaway on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person who runs away; fugitive; deserter.

a horse or team that has broken away from control.

the act of running away.

a decisive or easy victory.

a young person, especially a teenager, who has run away from home.

adjective

having run away; escaped; fugitive.

(of a horse or other animal) having escaped from the control of the rider or driver.

pertaining to or accomplished by running away or eloping: a runaway marriage.

easily won, as a contest: a runaway victory at the polls.

unchecked; rampant: runaway prices.

Informal. deserting or revolting against one's group, duties, expected conduct, or the like, especially to establish or join a rival group, change one's life drastically, etc.: The runaway delegates nominated their own candidate.

OTHER WORDS FOR runaway

9 absolute, complete, perfect.

See synonyms for runaway on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of runaway

First recorded in 1505–15; noun, adj. use of verb phrase run away

Words nearby runaway

run around in circles, run around like a chicken, run around with, run a temperature, run a tight ship, runaway, runaway star, run away with, runback, run batted in, run by someone

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use runaway in a sentence

A star can become a runaway when other massive stars fling it away through their gravity.
Runaway stars may create the mysterious ultraviolet glow around some galaxies|Ken Croswell|November 30, 2020|Science News
We still have to rein in runaway health care costs, and get the still-raging pandemic under control, to say nothing of preparing for whatever outbreaks are yet to come.
Are we better off than we were four years ago?|cleaf2013|October 17, 2020|Fortune
The problem is that runaway fires in overgrown forests don’t achieve the same results as controlled burns.
Suppressing fires has failed. Here’s what California needs to do instead.|James Temple|September 17, 2020|MIT Technology Review
It’s unlikely that any big automaker can remain a runaway growth machine after decades in the business, but we’ll give Tesla a generous multiple of 25 in 2030, meaning that investors still expect it to wax at better-than-industry rates.
Tesla has a business model problem: It can never justify its current stock price by simply making cars|Shawn Tully|August 29, 2020|Fortune

Antarctica’s existing ice sheets, for example, could theoretically limit runaway greenhouse warming.
A rainforest once grew near the South Pole|Carolyn Gramling|May 11, 2020|Science News For Students
In other words, runaway defense spending is a bipartisan problem.
Merry Christmas, Defense Contractors!|Veronique de Rugy|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But the runaway best example of the game is another cluster of British luxury vehicles—Range Rover, Land Rover and Jaguar.
Nationalism on Four Wheels|Clive Irving|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Runaway corporations benefited from those policies but want U.S. companies to pay their share of the tab.
The Democrats Have Found a New Boogeyman, and It’s Burger King|Tim Mak|August 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They told her they had heard she harbored gay men and runaway girls.
An Iraqi Group Helping Women and Gays Is Receiving Death Threats|Jacob Siegel|July 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Godzilla and X-Men: Days of Future Past both did well at the box office, but neither were runaway success stories.
Is the Summer Blockbuster Dead?|Kevin Fallon|July 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And here we come to the first unpleasant incident in the story of the runaway children.
The Box-Car Children|Gertrude Chandler Warner
"He's a runaway, sir, from my kennels out in Townsend," the man explained to Mr. Cordyce.
The Box-Car Children|Gertrude Chandler Warner
"And there's that infernal coward of a ranchero," cried Coronado, as the runaway sentry sneaked back to the group.
Overland|John William De Forest
That I should have to meet this miserable runaway serf, and find myself in his power in the midst of a Syrian desert!
The Pilgrim's Shell or Fergan the Quarryman|Eugne Sue
The shot had missed; they heard the runaway splash into the river and go stumbling across it and then there was silence.
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine|John Fox, Jr.

British Dictionary definitions for runaway

run away

verb (intr, adverb)

to take flight; escape

to go away; depart

(of a horse) to gallop away uncontrollably

run away with

to abscond or elope withhe ran away with his boss's daughter
to make off with; steal
to escape from the control ofhis enthusiasm ran away with him
to win easily or be assured of victory in (a competition)he ran away with the race

noun runaway

a person or animal that runs away
(as modifier)a runaway horse

the act or an instance of running away

(modifier) occurring as a result of the act of elopinga runaway wedding

(modifier) (of a race, victory, etc) easily wona runaway ten-shot victory

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with runaway

run away

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]

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]

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.