do a runner

verb

To leave somewhere hurriedly, especially to avoid paying.

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Meanings

verbdo a runner (third-person singular simple present does a runner, present participle doing a runner, simple past did a runner, past participle done a runner)

present singular third person does a runner · participle present doing a runner · past did a runner · participle past done a runner

  1. UKinformalTo leave somewhere hurriedly, especially to avoid paying.

    A fortnight ago, in his “Money talks” column, Patrick Collinson related how, at an airport restaurant earlier this month, he was told by a waiter that they had to pick up the tab if a customer did a runner. Yet the company in charge vehemently denied the account, saying: “This does not take place.”

    2018 March 24, “True or false? 'If you do a runner, the waiter has to pay your bill'”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
fleegethightail it
Cite this entry
APA

do a runner. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/do%20a%20runner

MLA

“do a runner.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/do%20a%20runner. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “do a runner,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/do%20a%20runner.

Source: do a runner on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.