runaway
[ruhn-uh-wey]
- 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.
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- 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.
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Origin of runaway
First recorded in 1505–15; noun, adj. use of verb phrase run away
Synonyms
See more synonyms for runaway on Thesaurus.com9. absolute, complete, perfect.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for runaway
Contemporary Examples
In other words, runaway defense spending is a bipartisan problem.
But the runaway best example of the game is another cluster of British luxury vehicles—Range Rover, Land Rover and Jaguar.
Runaway corporations benefited from those policies but want U.S. companies to pay their share of the tab.
They told her they had heard she harbored gay men and runaway girls.
Godzilla and X-Men: Days of Future Past both did well at the box office, but neither were runaway success stories.
Historical Examples
The peculiar feelings one has who is a "runaway" are indescribable.
Biography of a SlaveCharles Thompson
Neither was hurt, but it was the woman who pursued the runaway horse.
The Truth About WomanC. Gasquoine Hartley
But I took you for a youngster, you know, a regular ten-year-old runaway.
The Innocent AdventuressMary Hastings Bradley
A man may arrest his own slave, and he may also imprison for safe-keeping the runaway slave of a friend.
LawsPlato
To-morrow morning I'll be searching all over the house for my runaway.
The ChristianHall Caine
Word Origin and History for runaway
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper