flee

F4L1E1E1
/ˈfliː/[ˈflɪi̯]

verb

To run away; to escape.

“Many people fled the country as war loomed.”

Similar
run for itabscondabsquatulateamscraybeat a retreatbeat itbeat feetblow this popsicle stand
OriginMiddle English flen ← Old English flēon ← Proto-West Germanic *fleuhan →
Less commonScrabble 7
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Meanings

verbflee (third-person singular simple present flees, present participle fleeing, simple past and past participle fled or (nonstandard) fleed)

present singular third person flees · participle present fleeing · participle past fled · past fled · nonstandard participle past fleed · nonstandard past fleed

  1. intransitiveTo run away; to escape.

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

    4 more examples

    The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bolde as a lyon.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 28:1

    As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note.

    1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./4/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days

    When, however, the plant spirits were not strong enough in themselves, then the family called in the Medicine Man. He appeared, a "monster of so frightful mien", with noise making apparatus which produced such a terrifying din that even the hardiest demon was likely to flee.

    1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 254

    Huntingdon's ferocity makes the reaction of staff all the more brave. To move towards danger when others are fleeing is the definition of bravery in my book. To place yourself in danger to protect others.

    2025 November 12, Philip Haigh, “High praise for rail staff's courage and clear thinking”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 50

    Synonyms: run for it

  2. transitiveTo escape from.

    Many people fled the country as war loomed.

    2 more examples

    Thousands of people moved northward trying to flee the drought.

    The Government, having lit the fuse, is not going to be allowed to flee the explosion.

    1962 October, “Talking of Trains: Passed to you, Mr. Macmillan”, in Modern Railways, page 220
  3. intransitiveTo disappear quickly; to vanish; to fleet.

    Ethereal products flee once freely exposed to air.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo run away; to escape.

Similar
run for it
Similar
abscondabsquatulateamscraybeat a retreatbeat itbeat feetblow this popsicle standboltbook itdine and dashdo a bunkdo a flitdo a moonlight flitdo a runnerfly the coopjumpgas and dashget lostget outgnashhead for the hillshightailhightail ithit the roadkick rocksleg itmake a break for itmake a run for itmake tracksnamouspeg itrabbitrun a milerun awayrun for the hillsrun offscamperscatscarpershemozzlescramskedaddlesmash and dashtake a powdertake flighttake offtake to one's heelstake to the hillstear offturn tailvamoose
Broader
escapeleaveretreatrunrushwalk

More synonyms by meaning

verbrun away quickly

Similar
flytake flight
Broader
scatrunscarper
Also see
abscondflygethightail itmake offnamousshemozzleskedaddletake flighttear offvamoose

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*plewk-
  2. Proto-Germanic*fleuhaną
  3. Proto-West Germanic*fleuhan
  4. Old Englishflēon
  5. Middle Englishflen
  6. Englishflee

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.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans vlug
  • vlug(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Ancient Greek φεύγω, τρέω
  • φεύγω (pheúgō)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • τρέω (tréō)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Arabic هَرَبَ, فَرَّ
  • هَرَبَ (haraba)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • فَرَّ (farra)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Basque ihes egin
  • ihes egin(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Bengali পালানো, ভাগা
  • পালানো (palanō)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • ভাগা (bhaga)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • ফেরার করা (pherar kora)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Bulgarian бя́гам, избягвам
  • бя́гам (bjágam)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • избягвам (izbjagvam)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • избягвам (izbjagvam)(transitive) to escape from
  • изчезвам бързо (izčezvam bărzo)to disappear quickly
Catalan fugir, fugir
  • fugir(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • fugir(transitive) to escape from
  • esvair-seto disappear quickly
Chinese Mandarin 逃, 奔逃
  • 逃 (táo)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • 奔逃 (bēntáo)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • 奔 (bēn)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Czech utéct, utéci
  • utéct(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • utéci(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • utíkat(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • utéci(transitive) to escape from
  • utíkat(transitive) to escape from
  • zmizetto disappear quickly
  • vypařit seto disappear quickly
  • zdrhnoutto disappear quickly
Danish flygte, fly
  • flygte(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • fly(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • flygte(transitive) to escape from
Dutch vluchten, wegvluchten
  • vluchten(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • wegvluchten(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • ontsnappen(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • vlieden(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • ontkomen(transitive) to escape from
  • ontlopen(transitive) to escape from
  • ontvluchten(transitive) to escape from
  • vervliegento disappear quickly
  • vliedento disappear quickly
Esperanto fuĝi, fuĝi
  • fuĝi(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • fuĝi(transitive) to escape from
Estonian põgenema
  • põgenema(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Finnish paeta, karata
  • paeta(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • karata(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • paeta(transitive) to escape from
  • karata(transitive) to escape from
  • kadotato disappear quickly
French s'enfuir, prendre la fuite
  • s'enfuir(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • prendre la fuite(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • fuir(transitive) to escape from
  • échapper(transitive) to escape from
German fliehen, flüchten
  • fliehen(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • flüchten(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • fliehen(transitive) to escape from
  • entfliehen(transitive) to escape from
  • flüchten(transitive) to escape from
Greek φεύγω
  • φεύγω (févgo)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Hebrew נָס
  • נָס (nás)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Hindi भागना
  • भागना (bhāgnā)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Hungarian menekül
  • menekül(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Icelandic flýja, flýja
  • flýja(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • flýja(transitive) to escape from
Irish teith, teith ó/roimh
  • teith(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • teith ó/roimh(transitive) to escape from
Italian fuggire
  • fuggire(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Japanese 逃げる, 逃げる
  • 逃げる (nigeru)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • 逃げる (nigeru)(transitive) to escape from
Korean 달아나다, 도망치다
  • 달아나다 (daranada)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • 도망치다 (domangchida)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • 도망가다 (domanggada)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Latin fugiō, fugitō
  • fugiō(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • fugitō(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • perfugio(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • fugio(transitive) to escape from
  • confugio(transitive) to escape from
  • diffugio(transitive) to escape from
  • profugio(transitive) to escape from
  • refugio(transitive) to escape from
  • evado(transitive) to escape from
  • evanescoto disappear quickly
  • aufugioto disappear quickly
Latvian bēgt
  • bēgt(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Lithuanian bėgti
  • bėgti(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Māori kairere, tūrere
  • kairere(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • tūrere(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • papahoro(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • hārewato disappear quickly
Norwegian Bokmål flykte, rømme
  • flykte(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • rømme(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Persian گریختن, فرار کردن
  • گریختن (gorixtan)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • فرار کردن(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Polish uciec, uciekać
  • uciec(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • uciekać(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • zbiec(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • umknąć(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • umykać(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • uciec(transitive) to escape from
  • uciekać(transitive) to escape from
  • zbiec(transitive) to escape from
  • umknąć(transitive) to escape from
  • umykać(transitive) to escape from
  • ulotnić sięto disappear quickly
  • ulatniać sięto disappear quickly
Portuguese escapar, fugir
  • escapar(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • fugir(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • escapar de(transitive) to escape from
  • fugir de(transitive) to escape from
  • sumirto disappear quickly
Romanian scăpa, evada
  • scăpa(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • evada(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • fugi(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • fugi(transitive) to escape from
  • a se evaporato disappear quickly
  • dispăreato disappear quickly
Russian убега́ть, убежа́ть
  • убега́ть (ubegátʹ)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • убежа́ть (ubežátʹ)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • удира́ть (udirátʹ)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • удра́ть (udrátʹ)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • убега́ть (ubegátʹ)(transitive) to escape from
  • убежа́ть (ubežátʹ)(transitive) to escape from
  • удира́ть (udirátʹ)(transitive) to escape from
  • удра́ть (udrátʹ)(transitive) to escape from
  • улету́чиваться (uletúčivatʹsja)to disappear quickly
  • улету́читься (uletúčitʹsja)to disappear quickly
Scottish Gaelic teich
  • teich(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Slovak utekať, utiecť
  • utekať(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • utiecť(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Spanish huir, huirse
  • huir(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • huirse(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • fugarse(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • fuir(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • fugir(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • furtarse(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • barajustar(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • jullirse(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • evadirse(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • huir(transitive) to escape from
Swedish fly, fly
  • fly(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • fly(transitive) to escape from
Thai หนี, หนี
  • หนี (nǐi)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • หนี (nǐi)(transitive) to escape from
Turkish kaçmak
  • kaçmak(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Ukrainian тіка́ти, утіка́ти
  • тіка́ти (tikáty)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • утіка́ти (utikáty)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • утекти́ (utektý)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • бі́гти (bíhty)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Urdu بهاگنا
  • بهاگنا (bhāgnā)(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Vietnamese bôn, bôn đào
  • bôn(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • bôn đào(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • bỏ chạy(intransitive) to run away; to escape
Welsh ffoi, ffoi
  • ffoi(intransitive) to run away; to escape
  • ffoi(transitive) to escape from
Yiddish אַנטלויפֿן
  • אַנטלויפֿן (antloyfn)(intransitive) to run away; to escape

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with flee

thebewefreeheseeemerebtdshedepgthreevcdkeyzcommitteeiddegree
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

flea

Anagrams

feelfele
Cite this entry
APA

flee. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flee

MLA

“flee.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flee. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “flee,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flee.

Source: flee on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.