flee

verb

Etymology: 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.

1. To run away; to escape.

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

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

2. To escape from.

   “Many people fled the country as war loomed.”

   “Thousands of people moved northward trying to flee the drought.”

3. To disappear quickly; to vanish; to fleet.

   “Ethereal products flee once freely exposed to air.”