put to flight

Idioms and Phrases

Cause to run away, as in The bombs put the civilians to flight . [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

Awaiting a messiah or “Immanuel,” meaning “God with us,” predicted by the prophet Isaiah, they yearn for him to “disperse the gloomy clouds of night / And death’s dark shadows put to flight.”

From Los Angeles Times

How many limbs lost, children brutalized, refugees put to flight?

From Seattle Times

Five dead bodies and a Congress put to flight are not enough to convict and disqualify a president from seeking power again, if that president’s party wants to protect him.

From Slate

Already, shocking numbers have been put to flight by fires, derechos, and super storms, and so much worse is yet to come, according to experts.

From Salon

After this, he waited for the opportunity to wipe out the Orsini leaders, having already put to flight those of the Colonna family.

From Literature

Related Words

• beat
• chase
• clobber
• conquer
• crush
• destroy
• expel
• finish
• kill
• overpower
• repulse
• subdue
• trounce
• vanquish
• whip
• wipe out