Dictionary

run away en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• (UK) audio

Meanings

1. To flee by running.
   • Sometimes I feel I've got to / Run away / I've got to / Get away from the pain you drive into the heart of me 1965, Ed Cobb, “Tainted Love”, in Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, performed by Soft Cell, published 1981:
   • The crowd had to run away from the burning structure with only the clothes on their backs.
2. To leave home, or other place of residence, usually unannounced, or to make good on a threat, with such action usually performed by a child or juvenile.
   • "I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." ¶ "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal. I never did that.[…]." 1909 September 9, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter II, in The Squire’s Daughter, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC:
   • My parents want me to take a bath every day? Fine, I'm running away.
   • Weeks before Amy disappeared, she had written in her journal about a man named ‘Hank’, who had asked her to run away with him to South America. 2026 July 29, Nicholas Muhoro, “Amy Billig Vanished While Hitchhiking Through Coconut Grove. Then the Calls Began”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 31 Jul 2026:
   • I decided to move out of the house when I was 24; my mother still refers to this as the time I ran away from home. 1974, Rhoda (opening credit scene), spoken by Rhoda Morgenstern:
   • Look, kid... it's getting kind of late. It'll be dark soon. Maybe running away today isn't such a good idea. 2005 September 17, Tom Armstrong, Marvin (comic):
3. To become a runaway. (of a device or vehicle)
   • The train's brakes failed and it ran away.
   • The complete 1892 rebuilding, indeed, followed an accident in 1890, when No. 6 ran away down the Buckley branch, and got badly smashed up in a collision at Connah's Quay. 1944 May and June, “Notes and News: A Much Transformed Locomotive”, in Railway Magazine, page 186:
   • An autotrim failure can cause stabiliser trim to rapidly run away in the nose-up or nose-down direction.

Forms

Deriveds

look like who did it and ran away

Relateds

runaway

Synonyms

hop the twig

Translations (71)

grc φεύγω (to flee by running) · ja 逃走する (to flee by running) · de durchbrennen (to leave home) · sa नश्यति (to flee by running) · pl uciekać z domu (to leave home) · ru убежа́ть (to leave home) · te పారిపోవు (to flee by running) · de wegrennen (to flee by running) · ja 逃げる (to flee by running) · ota قاچمق (to flee by running) · bg убегна (to flee by running) · ru убежа́ть (to flee by running) · es escapar (to leave home) · es huir (to flee by running) · kab rwel (to flee by running) · it scappare (to flee by running) · fi karata kotoa (to leave home) · mi karapetapeta (to flee by running) · ar هَرَبَ (to flee by running) · fa فرار کردن (to leave home) · fa فرار کردن (to flee by running) · zdj utrawa (to flee by running) · bg избягам (to leave home) · pl uciekać (to flee by running) · ajp هرب (to flee by running) · kea fuji (to flee by running) · ro fugi (to flee by running) · ja 家出する (to leave home) · it fuggire (to flee by running) · es pirarse (to leave home) · pt fugir (to flee by running) · eo forkuri (to flee by running) · bg офейквам (to flee by running) · io fugar (to flee by running) · pl uciec z domu (to leave home) · fr s'enfuir (to flee by running) · fur fuî (to flee by running) · wa cori evoye (to flee by running) · ru убега́ть (to flee by running) · ru убега́ть (to leave home) · de davonlaufen (to flee by running) · ro scăpa (to flee by running) · es pirárselas (to leave home) · pt fugir (to leave home) · hi चंपत (to flee by running) · sa सिसर्ति (to flee by running) · cs utéct (to flee by running) · la fugiō (to flee by running) · cmn 離家 /离家 (to leave home) · bg избягвам (to leave home) · sv springa iväg (to flee by running) · grc ἀποτρέχω (to flee by running) · fur scjampâ (to flee by running) · pl uciec (to flee by running) · ca fugir (to flee by running) · njo-jgl ajen (to flee by running) · de ausreißen (to leave home) · ajp شرد (to flee by running) · chr ᎠᎵᏘᎠ (to flee by running) · no stikke av (to flee by running) · fi juosta pakoon (to flee by running) · es arrancarse (to leave home) · sv springa bort (to leave home) · bg убягвам (to flee by running) · ru сматываться (to flee by running) · da stikke af (to flee by running) · nl vluchten (to flee by running) · cmn 逃跑 (to flee by running) · nl weglopen (to flee by running) · gd teich (to flee by running) · he בָּרַח (to flee by running)