Adjacent Words

Flee definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FLEE, v.i.
1. To run with rapidity, as from danger; to attempt to escape; to hasten from danger or expected evil. The enemy fled at the first fire.
Arise, take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt. Matthew 2.
2. To depart; to leave; to hasten away.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4.
3. To avoid; to keep at a distance from.
Flee fornication; flee from idolatry. 1 Cor
6:10.
To flee the question or from the question, in legislation, is said of a legislator who, when a question is to be put to the house, leaves his seat to avoid the dilemma of voting against his conscience, or giving an unpopular vote. In the phrases in which this verb appears to be transitive, there is really an ellipsis.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: run away quickly; "He threw down his gun and fled" [syn: flee, fly, take flight]

Merriam Webster's

verb (fled; fleeing) Etymology: Middle English flen, from Old English fl?on; akin to Old High German fliohan to flee Date: before 12th century intransitive verb 1. a. to run away often from danger or evil ; fly b. to hurry toward a place of security 2. to pass away swiftly ; vanish transitive verb to run away from ; shun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. (past and past part. fled) 1 intr. (often foll. by from, before) a run away. b seek safety by fleeing. 2 tr. run away from; leave abruptly; shun (fled the room; fled his attentions). 3 intr. vanish; cease; pass away. Derivatives: fleer n. Etymology: OE fleon f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flee Flee, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fled; p. pr. & vb. n. Fleeing.] [OE. fleon, fleen, AS. fle['o]n (imperf. fle['a]h); akin to D. vlieden, OHG. & OS. fliohan, G. fliehen, Icel. fl?ja (imperf. fl??i), Dan. flye, Sw. fly (imperf. flydde), Goth. pliuhan. (?) 84. Cf. Flight.] To run away, as from danger or evil; to avoid in an alarmed or cowardly manner; to hasten off; -- usually with from. This is sometimes omitted, making the verb transitive. [He] cowardly fled, not having struck one stroke. --Shak. Flee fornication. --1 Cor. vi. 18. So fled his enemies my warlike father. --Shak. Note: When great speed is to be indicated, we commonly use fly, not flee; as, fly hence to France with the utmost speed. ``Whither shall I fly to 'scape their hands?'' --Shak. See Fly, v. i., 5.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(flees, fleeing, fled) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. If you flee from something or someone, or flee a person or thing, you escape from them. (WRITTEN) He slammed the bedroom door behind him and fled... He fled to Costa Rica to avoid military service. ...refugees fleeing persecution or torture... Thousands have been compelled to flee the country in makeshift boats. VERB: no passive, V, V prep/adv, V n, V n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fle.

See FLY.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. Fly, run, decamp, escape, abscond, hasten away, run away, make off, turn tail, cut and run.

Moby Thesaurus

abscond, absquatulate, avoid, bail out, be annihilated, be consumed, be destroyed, be gone, be no more, be wiped out, beat a retreat, beat it, blow, bolt, break, break away, break jail, break loose, bunk, cease, cease to be, cease to exist, clear out, cut and run, cut loose, cut out, decamp, dematerialize, depart, desert, die, die away, die out, disappear, dispel, disperse, dissipate, dissolve, do a fade-out, dwindle, elope, elude, erode, escape, escape prison, eschew, evade, evanesce, evaporate, exit, expire, fade, fade away, fade out, fly, fly the coop, fugitate, get away, get clear of, get free, get out, get out of, go, go AWOL, go away, hide, hightail, jump, jump bail, leave no trace, leave the scene, levant, make a getaway, make an exit, make off, make tracks, melt, melt away, pass, pass away, pass out, perish, peter out, quit, retire from sight, run, run along, run away, run away from, run away with, run for it, run off, scamper, scape, scoot, scram, screw, show the heels, shun, sink, sink away, skedaddle, skip, skip out, slip the cable, slip the collar, split, suffer an eclipse, take French leave, take flight, take off, take to flight, take wing, turn tail, vamoose, vanish, vanish from sight, waste, waste away, wear away