1. run away from a place or situation of danger: "to escape the fighting, his family fled from their village"Similarrunrun awayrun offmake a run for itrun for ittake flightbe gonemake offtake offtake to one's heelsmake a break for itboltbeat a (hasty) retreatmake a quick exitmake one's getawayescapeabsent oneselfmake oneself scarceabscondhead for the hillsdo a disappearing actinformal:beat itclear offclear outvamooseskedaddlesplitcut and runshow a clean pair of heelsturn tailscramdo a runnerscarperdo a bunkleg itlight outbug outcut outpeel outtake a powderskiddoogo throughshoot throughvulgar slang:bugger offarchaic:flyrun away fromleave hastily/abruptlyflyescape frominformal:skip
▪ run away from (someone or something):"he was forced to flee the country"
Word OriginOld Englishflēon, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vlieden and German fliehen.
