verb
simple past tense and past participle of flee.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
verb (used without object)
1.
to run away, as from danger or pursuers; take flight.
2.
to move swiftly; fly; speed.
verb (used with object)
3.
to run away from (a place, person, etc.).
Origin:
before 900; Middle English fleen, Old English flēon; cognate with Old High German flichan (German fliehen), Gothic thliuhan; compare Old English fleogan to fly1
before 900; Middle English fleen, Old English flēon; cognate with Old High German flichan (German fliehen), Gothic thliuhan; compare Old English fleogan to fly1
Related forms
out·flee, verb (used with object), out·fled, out·flee·ing.
un·flee·ing, adjective
Synonyms
3. evade, escape, avoid, shun, elude.
3. evade, escape, avoid, shun, elude.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To fled
00:10
Fled
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is lollygag. Does it mean:
| to spend time idly; loaf. |
| to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable. |
Collins
flee1 (fliː) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb , flees, fleeing, fled | |
| 1. | to run away from (a place, danger, etc); fly: to flee the country |
| 2. | (intr) to run or move quickly; rush; speed: she fled to the door |
| [Old English flēon; related to Old Frisian fliā, Old High German fliohan, Gothic thliuhan] | |
| 'fleer1 | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
flee
O.E. fleon "take flight" (contracted class II strong verb; past tense fleah, pp. flogen), from P.Gmc. *thleukhanan (cf. O.H.G. fliohan, O.N. flöja, Du. vlieden, Ger. fliehen, Goth. þliuhan "to flee"), of unknown origin. Not found outside Germanic. Weak pt./pp. fled emerged M.E., under influence
of Scandinavian. O.E. had a trans. form, geflieman "put to flight," which came in handy in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Related: Fleeing.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Their slums are filled with desperately poor people who have fled worse poverty in the countryside.
The suspect then fled out the store and fled on foot.
Much of the sea life that would normally inhabit the area has perished or fled.
The pirates fled in the ship's lifeboat with the captain.
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