Runaway Meaning
/ˈɹʌnəweɪ/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA person or animal that runs away or has run away; a person, animal, or organization that escapes captivity or restrictions.
nounA vehicle (especially, a train) that is out of control.
Sentence Examples
The police are in pursuit of the runaway.
A hunt is on for the runaway.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ teenager left home without telling anyone and was found days later.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The police issued an alert for the ____ teenager who had left home without warning.
Word Origin & History
Deverbal from run away.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Thou runaway, thou coward, art thou fled?"
— c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
"If any man of his owne heade and without leaue, walke out of his precint and boundes, taken without the princes letters, he is broughte againe for a fugitiue or a runaway with great shame and rebuke, and is sharpely punished."
— 1556, Ralph Robinson, Utopia: originally printed in Latin, 1516, translation of original by Sir Thomas More, page 96:
"On New Year's Day, 1850, a catastrophe, which it is fearful to contemplate, was averted by the aid of the telegraph. A collision had occurred to an empty train at Gravesend; and the driver having leaped from his engine, the latter started alone at full speed to London. Notice was immediately given by telegraph to London and other stations; and while the line was kept clear, an engine and other arrangements were prepared as a buttress to receive the runaway."
— 1850, “The Romance of the Electric Telegraph”, in New monthly magazine, volume 41:
"Runaways are rendered impossible, as the machine can be instantly stopped by means of a double brake connected with the driver's seat"
— 1886, John H. Cooper, “Handling Grain in California”, in Transactions, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, volume 7:
"We hear many ideas advanced as to the cause of engines running away, more especially in electric stations, while the wonder is that the runaways are so few."
— 1897, Editor American Machinist, “Runaway Engines and Governors”, in American machinist:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ teenager left home without telling anyone and was found days later.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The police issued an alert for the ____ teenager who had left home without warning.