RUN OFF

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does run off mean? 

• RUN OFF (verb)
  The verb RUN OFF has 7 senses:

1. run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along

2. leave suddenly and as if in a hurry

3. force to go away; used both with concrete and metaphoric meanings

4. run away secretly with one's beloved

5. run off as waste

6. reproduce by xerography

7. decide (a contest or competition) by a runoff

  Familiarity information: RUN OFF used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RUN OFF (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

abscond; absquatulate; bolt; decamp; go off; make off; run off

Context example:

the accountant absconded with the cash from the safe

Hypernyms (to "run off" is one way to...):

flee; fly; take flight (run away quickly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "run off"):

levant (run off without paying a debt)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Leave suddenly and as if in a hurry

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

beetle off; bolt; bolt out; run off; run out

Context example:

When she started to tell silly stories, I ran out

Hypernyms (to "run off" is one way to...):

go away; go forth; leave (go away from a place)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Force to go away; used both with concrete and metaphoric meanings

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

chase away; dispel; drive away; drive off; drive out; run off; turn back

Context example:

The supermarket had to turn back many disappointed customers

Hypernyms (to "run off" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Verb group:

drive out; force out; rouse; rout out (force or drive out)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "run off"):

fire (drive out or away by or as if by fire)

clear the air (dispel differences or negative emotions)

banish (drive away)

shoo; shoo away; shoo off (drive away by crying 'shoo!')

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 4

Meaning:

Run away secretly with one's beloved

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

elope; run off

Context example:

The young couple eloped and got married in Las Vegas

Hypernyms (to "run off" is one way to...):

flee; fly; take flight (run away quickly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 5

Meaning:

Run off as waste

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

run off; waste

Context example:

The water wastes back into the ocean

Hypernyms (to "run off" is one way to...):

course; feed; flow; run (move along, of liquids)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

runoff (the occurrence of surplus liquid (as water) exceeding the limit or capacity)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Reproduce by xerography

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

photocopy; run off; xerox

Hypernyms (to "run off" is one way to...):

reproduce (make a copy or equivalent of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "run off"):

microcopy (photocopy printed or other graphic matter so that it is reduced in size)

photostat (make a copy by means of a Photostat device)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sense 7

Meaning:

Decide (a contest or competition) by a runoff

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "run off" is one way to...):

compete; contend; vie (compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others)

Domain category:

game (a contest with rules to determine a winner)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

runoff (a final election to resolve an earlier election that did not produce a winner)

 Context examples 

He was talking, apparently to some one, but I was afraid to go near enough to hear what he was saying, lest I might frighten him, and he should run off.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

An' so, when I saw it run off across the snow, I looked in the snow an' saw its tracks.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Too much nitrogen can run off with rainwater or leach through to soil and contaminate groundwater.

(New Test Can Determine Nitrogen Levels in Soil, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

"What fun you'd have! I wish I could run off too," said Jo, forgetting her part of mentor in lively visions of martial life at the capital.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Set out before it gets hot, and when you are going, walk nicely and quietly and do not run off the path, or you may fall and break the bottle, and then your grandmother will get nothing; and when you go into her room, don’t forget to say, Good morning, and don’t peep into every corner before you do it.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

His honour had further observed, “that a female Yahoo would often stand behind a bank or a bush, to gaze on the young males passing by, and then appear, and hide, using many antic gestures and grimaces, at which time it was observed that she had a most offensive smell; and when any of the males advanced, would slowly retire, looking often back, and with a counterfeit show of fear, run off into some convenient place, where she knew the male would follow her.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

"I saw the other one run off across the snow," Bill announced with cool positiveness.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

You may be a number one, tip-top minin' expert, all right all right, the dog-musher delivered himself oracularly, but you missed the chance of your life when you was a boy an' didn't run off an' join a circus.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

"I have enjoyed my lunch," he said, "and I'm going to run off from you two young men before I outstay my welcome."

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

He come out to see me two years ago and bought me the house I live in now. Of course we was broke up when he run off from home but I see now there was a reason for it. He knew he had a big future in front of him. And ever since he made a success he was very generous with me.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)