flee

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To run away; to escape.

   The prisoner tried to flee, but was caught by the guards.

2. 2
   verb

   To escape from.

   Many people fled the country as war loomed.

3. 3
   verb

   To disappear quickly; to vanish; to fleet.

   Ethereal products flee once freely exposed to air.

4. 4
   verb

   run away quickly

Etymology

From Middle English flen, from Old English flēon, from Proto-West Germanic *fleuhan, from Proto-Germanic *fleuhaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewk-, *plew- (“to fly, flow, run”). Cognate with Dutch vlieden, German fliehen, Icelandic flýja, Swedish fly, Gothic 𐌸𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌷𐌰𐌽 (þliuhan). Within English, related to fly and more distantly to flow.