runaway

American  

[ruhn-uh-wey] / ˈrʌn əˌweɪ /

noun

1. a person who runs away; fugitive; deserter.

2. a horse or team that has broken away from control.

3. the act of running away.

4. a decisive or easy victory.

5. a young person, especially a teenager, who has run away from home.

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adjective

1. having run away; escaped; fugitive.

2. (of a horse or other animal) having escaped from the control of the rider or driver.

3. pertaining to or accomplished by running away or eloping.

   a runaway marriage.

4. easily won, as a contest.

   a runaway victory at the polls.

   Synonyms:

   complete, absolute

5. unchecked; rampant.

   runaway prices.

6. Informal. deserting or revolting against one's group, duties, expected conduct, or the like, especially to establish or join a rival group, change one's life drastically, etc..

   The runaway delegates nominated their own candidate.

Etymology

Origin of runaway

First recorded in 1505–15; noun, adj. use of verb phrase run away

Example Sentences

To the players, that is the problem—not runaway spending in LA.

From The Wall Street Journal

At that time, the ECB faced fierce criticism for failing to hike borrowing costs quickly enough to tame runaway price rises.

From Barron's

In the 1970s, the U.S. economy was racked by oil shocks, runaway inflation and a weak labor market.

From The Wall Street Journal

That debate would have triggered a discussion about the cost of runaway benefits, which would have reined in the size of benefit checks long ago.

From MarketWatch

I got out of the bag and fed them and packed and stood on the sled and they pulled up and out of the gully like a runaway train.

From Literature

Related Words

• rampant
• unbridled
• unchecked
• uncontrolled
• unrestrained