FLEE

flee, fly, take flight

(verb) run away quickly; “He threw down his gun and fled”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

flee (third-person singular simple present flees, present participle fleeing, simple past and past participle fled)

(intransitive) To run away; to escape.

(transitive) To escape from.

(intransitive) To disappear quickly; to vanish.

Anagrams

• elfe, feel, fele, leef

Source: Wiktionary

Flee, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fled; p. pr. & vb. n. Fleeing.] Etym: [OE. fleon, fleen, AS. fleón (imperf. fleáh); akin to D. vlieden, OHG. & OS. fliohan, G. fliehen, Icel. fl (imperf. fl), Dan. flye, Sw. fly (imperf. flydde), Goth. pliuhan. (Flight.]

Definition: To run away, as from danger or evil; to avoid in an alarmed or cowardly manner; to hasten off; -- usually with from. This is sometimes omitted, making the verb transitive. [He] cowardly fled, not having struck one stroke. Shak. Flee fornication. 1 Cor. vi. 18. So fled his enemies my warlike father. Shak.

Note: When great speed is to be indicated, we commonly use fly, not flee; as, fly hence to France with the utmost speed. "Whither shall I fly to 'scape their hands" Shak. See Fly, v. i., 5.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition