ran off

verb

past tense of run off
1
as in ejected
to drive or force out the dog often ran off cats and other animals that had intruded upon his owner's property

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in escaped
to get free from a dangerous or confining situation their rebellious daughter's run off because she was disciplined again

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in retreated
to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening the mouse ran off as soon as it saw us

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ran off At one point the car ran off the road and returned to I- 435, the document recorded. — Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 13 July 2026 The suspect ran off after attacking his victim and remained at large on Wednesday. — Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News, 8 July 2026 After the loss to Martins, Makhachev ran off 10 straight wins. — Trent Reinsmith, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026 The horse then got spooked and ran off, while the driver chased after it. — Katie Houlis, CBS News, 20 June 2026 After Mamdani ran off a long list of his favorite players over the years, Dolan was not impressed and showed his disdain for hizzoner. — Matt Nighswander, NBC news, 18 June 2026 The striker, a top scorer in the Saudi Pro League, immediately ran off to celebrate with the bench, marking the first goal of the tournament. — Eduard Cauich, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2026 Weeks go by with most people assuming that Ashe ran off or was killed as a result of his sketchy business dealings. — Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 5 June 2026 The Apaches ran off four straight to tie it at 22. — Tim Meehan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ran off
  1. ejected
  2. escaped
  3. retreated
  4. dismissed
  5. fled
  6. bolted
  7. outed
  8. ran away
Verb
  • Fans of the Spinners were dismayed this week after the team said the town unfairly ejected it from the stadium.
    — Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 17 July 2026
  • There was a June 1977 friendly in Buenos Aires where punches were thrown and players were ejected.
    — Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 July 2026
Definition of ejected
Verb
  • The data released by DCF this week shows that there are many other child deaths that have escaped public view over the last year and a half.
    — Laura Tillman, Hartford Courant, 18 July 2026
  • The first major wave of these changes just escaped Windows Insider builds and landed on stable Windows 11 machines with July’s Patch Tuesday update.
    — Chris Hoffman, PC Magazine, 15 July 2026
Definition of escaped
Verb
  • Kelly, typically a non-demonstrative engineer, retreated to the airplane bathroom and sobbed.
    — Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic, 20 July 2026
  • But instead of pulling back, Elmi says, the founders reinvested their own capital, applied it to operating as an essential business, and secured favorable lease terms and available talent while competitors retreated.
    — Sydney Lake, Fortune, 20 July 2026
Definition of retreated
Verb
  • Scott first attended Arizona State on a partial golf scholarship, but was dismissed from the team after an incident with a visiting recruit.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 18 July 2026
  • In our most recent conversation, Gershman dismissed the account Sebold gave in her memoir and downplayed the parts of her testimony that were more ambiguous.
    — Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, 17 July 2026
Definition of dismissed
Verb
  • In Comfort, a group of 42 relatives who had gathered for their family’s 40th annual reunion fled a riverside hotel on Thursday morning, CNN affiliate KENS reported.
    — Dalia Faheid, CNN Money, 17 July 2026
  • Kingsbury argued that Payton fled for his life firing behind him on 10th Street as bullets whizzed and ricocheted past; and argued Payton’s return fire was not responsible for the deaths of the three women.
    — Darrell Smith July 16, Sacbee.com, 17 July 2026
Definition of fled
Verb
  • View gallery - 7 images A robot that swims like a diving bird and then flies like, well, a bird, sounds like the setup for two different machines bolted together.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 13 July 2026
  • In addition to the custom pieces of furniture — and hundreds of cameras capturing contestants’ every move — some of the furniture is bolted to the ground, as Storey told the Los Angeles Times.
    — Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 9 July 2026
Definition of bolted
Verb
  • Thiel mentioned the news outlet Gawker, which had recently outed him as gay.
    — Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 13 July 2026
  • And what happens to someone who’s been outed like that, as a fake?
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 1 July 2026
Definition of outed
Verb
  • The man ran away from agents and was hit by a truck, Florida Highway Patrol Master Sergeant Dylan Bryan told the Miami Herald.
    — Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 14 July 2026
  • The teen ran away, toward the nearby bus, and bullets followed him.
    — Julia Coin Updated July 14, Charlotte Observer, 14 July 2026
Definition of ran away

Browse Nearby Words

ranks
ran off
ran off with
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Cite this Entry

“Ran off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ran%20off. Accessed 21 Jul. 2026.

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