runawayn.adj.
/ˈrʌnəweɪ/, U.S. /ˈrənəˌweɪ/ A. n.
1. † b. A person who renounces his or her faith; an apostate. Obsolete.
a. A person who runs away; a fugitive, deserter, or escapee. In later use: esp. a child or teenager who runs away from home. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > [noun] > flight or running away > one who runs away
fugitive1382
runner1440
fleer1488
flyera1500
fugitour1533
runaway1534
runagate1539
fleeter1581
sure flight1599
runagadea1604
deserter?a1645
refugee1754
fly-away1838
skedaddler1864
lamster1904
1534 W. Marshall tr. Erasmus Playne & Godly Expos. Commune Crede vi. f. 134 The name of a rebel or a runne away or traitoure be abominable.
1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. F4 What are you sir.., that deale thus with me by interrogatories, as if I were some runne away.
1612 J. Davies Muses Sacrifice in Wks. (Grosart) II. 50/2 Riches, but Runnawayes; Fauours, but lyes.
1665 T. Manley tr. H. Grotius De Rebus Belgicis 614 Many Runaways from them affirmed, They had not tasted a bit of Bread in five days.
1712 Perquisite Monger 17 A general Defection ensu'd upon this Run-aways Example.
1758 J. Blake Plan Marine Syst. 22 Half the gross wages of such run-aways from the ship, shall be deposited..in the Pay-office.
1833 H. Martineau Briery Creek ii. 29 This lad is a notorious runaway: he has escaped three times.
1852 Runaway iii. 31 Why, you young runaway, do you want to go to sea?.. Go home, and stick by your mammy for five years more.
1920 C. Rickards Prison Chaplain on Dartmoor vi. 159 When it was found that old Smith was the runaway, every one was rather surprised, as he was a well-behaved convict.
1967 N.Y. Times 18 Aug. 22 ‘These are very strung-out kids with individual hang-ups,’ said Jim Fouratt..describing the modern runaway.
1986 P. L. Fermor Between Woods & Water vii. 181 I could see a ram and a dozen sheep... We outflanked the runaways and turned them uphill.
1998 M. Waites Little Triggers (1999) xviii. 150 One of the four men..acted as procurer, picking up runaways, latchkey kids, kids from council-run homes.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > apostasy > [noun] > person
apostate1340
postatea1387
relapse1407
pervert1501
reneganta1525
runagate1530
reniant1532
backfaller1545
apostatrice1551
turn-tippet?1556
runaway1561
faller-away1564
reneger?1577
renegado1584
backslider1591
retrospicientc1600
relapser1608
renegade1611
runagado1614
runagade1670
fallaway1673
lapser1695
faller-out1964
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. iv. f. 5 He compteth him for a traiterous runne away and forsaker of Religion.
1583 G. Babington Very Fruitfull Expos. Commaundem. ii. 119 An Heretike hee is, a runneaway from the Church.
1606 T. Dekker Double PP sig. C1 A Papist Volant,—or the Run-away.
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (1 Cor. i. 13) Those then that will needs be called Franciscans, Lutherans, &c...become run awaies from Christ.
1720 Choice Dialogue between John Faustus & Jack Tory 4 These were the People of all the World, which your Master and mine gave over as lost; he has hue-in-cried them as Runaways.
1747 J. Willison Sacramental Medit. & Advices 260 God hath provided different Pieces of Armour for you..; but there is nothing for the Back, for God disowns Runaways.
1874 Bulwark Apr. 85 He teaches that if they be called Pauline or Petrine, they disclaim their baptism, and become runaways from Christ.
2.
a. A horse which has a tendency to bolt.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > for riding > that bolts
runaway1607
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice ii. 67 For run awaies & madde Iades, I haue known him haue seauen or eight in his charge at an instant.
1619 E. Bert Approved Treat. Hawkes ii. ii. 56 If a horse prooue hard-mouthed, a run-away, carry an vnsteady head [etc.].
1829 Young Lady's Bk. 441 A runaway might, in many instances, be cured of his vice by his being suffered to gallop, unchecked.
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports 536/1 In such a case it is better to do anything than to persevere in the course which the runaway is taking.
1870 Field 2 Apr. 200/3 I have not had an opportunity of seeing one tried on a regular runaway, such animals being luckily not very common.
1901 Outing Dec. 287/2 If a horse is a runaway, shoot him and don't bother.
1963 A. C. Thomason in A. M. Rose Aging in Minnesota 210 The first automobiles..frightened our unsophisticated farm horses into near or actual runaways.
1993 M. Rashid Considering Horse iii. 182 There are some runaways that are just too enthusiastic.
b. A train or section of a train which is no longer under the control of a driver.
ΚΠ
1848 Times 27 Apr. 7/3 Mr. Hirst..accompanied by the head porter and the driver and stoker, set off at full speed after the runaways.
1867 Every Sat. 1 June 678/1 None of us doubted that our train was a runaway, and also that it was running away to our certain destruction.
1945 G. B. Grundy 55 Years at Oxf. i. 17 The eight trucks of a luggage train which I had seen were runaways.
1963 Life 29 Mar. 80/3 As luck had it, no other engines or cars were in the path of the runaway.
1995 C. F. Poole Hist. Railroading in Western N. Carolina 16/1 After determining the train was a runaway, Ballew yelled to the crew to jump and save their lives.
3.
a. An act of running away; spec. an elopement (cf. sense B. 1b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > [noun] > flight or running away
flemeOE
flightc1175
fuge1436
fuite1499
fleec1560
fugacyc1600
tergiversationa1652
runaway1720
run1799
fugitation1823
skedaddling1863
skedaddle1870
lam1897
run-out1928
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > wedding or nuptials > [noun] > manner of marrying > elopement
Gretna Green1813
runaway1833
runaway match1838
1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 278 We..forced them at last to a down right Run-away, on Foot.
1833 W. Carleton Traits & Stories Irish Peasantry 2nd Ser. I. 68 Many of the young people made, on these occasions, what is called ‘a runaway’.
1845 E. Robinson Whitehall I. v. 45 He would have made another run away of it.
1872 Court Jrnl. 2 Mar. 244/1 It is not generally the young lady who takes the lead in an elopement,..but when she does, the runaway is pretty sure to prove a success.
1903 J. Owens Recoll. of Runaway Boy iii. 14 My second runaway was under less trying circumstances.
1971 Leader (Durban) 7 May 16/4 Occasional runaways by Derrick Norris and Elijah Adams looked dangerous at times, but failed to bring home any goals.
1993 A. N. Wilson Vicar of Sorrows (1995) 376 She now wished that she had gone home, and made her runaway the next day, during the daylight hours.
b. Chiefly U.S. With reference to a horse: an act of bolting.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > for riding > that bolts > act of
runaway1839
1839 G. Greenwood Hints Horsemanship 9 The finish is a fractured limb, from a rear or a runaway.
1850 L. H. Garrard Wah-to-Yah xxi. 291 Three of the muleteams, made handsome runaways.
1915 Pacific Reporter 143 259/1 Before the runaway he noticed that the team was very nervous.
1975 Budget (Sugarcreek, Ohio) 20 Mar. 7/8 Jacob D. Shetler had a runaway recently. He wanted to haul wood to saw, when the horses took off.
2003 M. Schintz Alequiers iv. 40 Anyone could have a runaway, but there was no shame attached to that if you stayed with your team and eventually brought them back.
c. An instance of a train or section of a train running out of control.
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society > travel > rail travel > [noun] > accident on railway
run-off1847
runaway train1848
derailment1850
train wreck1876
derailing1884
runaway1886
train crash1904
1886 Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 85 114 Two ‘runaways’ took place, while track was being laid, which demonstrated the necessity for care and extreme watchfulness.
1902 Railway Conductor May 388/1 This collision, due to a runaway of freight cars on a long and steep grade, can not be satisfactorily classified as to cause.
1967 G. F. Fiennes I tried to run Railway iv. 32 We never had a runaway.
1996 M. C. Bumgarner Legacy of Carolina & North-Western Railway 177 The modern diesel has no trouble on this spot which was the sight of numerous runaways in the past.
d. Science. Uncontrolled departure of a system from its usual or intended equilibrium; an instance of this.thermal runaway: see the first element.
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the world > relative properties > order > disorder > irregularity > unconformity > [noun] > deviation from rule or standard > uncontrolled departure from equilibrium
runaway1891
1891 Electr. Engineer 1 May 441/2 Think of the changes a dynamo has to meet when it is in circuit with a motor which occasionally holds up a runaway by backing its brushes and acting as a generator.
1918 Electr. World 2 Nov. 831/2 When the unit is shut down in case of a runaway the water automatically rises and discharges through the by-pass.
1946 Industr. Chemist Apr. 235/2 Vessels containing new catalyst required very careful handling to prevent a temperature ‘run-away’.
1955 Sci. Amer. Oct. 60/3 Reactors are designed so that there is a built-in tendency to overcome runaways automatically.
1961 M. G. Say Electr. Engineer's Ref. Bk. (ed. 10) ii. 61 An automatic safety brake which guards against runaway by providing, adjacent to the main blades, a set of smaller blades of reverse pitch.
1990 J. Gribbin Hothouse Earth ii. 37 The ‘wet’ greenhouse effect got out of control and became a runaway.
2006 F. Wilczek Fantastic Realities 414 The resulting color fields would carry infinite energy, which is not available. The color charge that threatens to induce this runaway must be cancelled.
e. U.S. Stock Market. A rapid rise or fall in the price of stocks or shares.
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society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > fluctuation in price > [noun] > (an) increase in price > sudden
run-up1884
runaway1940
breakthrough1949
1940 Ironwood (Mich.) Daily Globe 16 Nov. 4/1 The SEC's experts anticipate no stock market runaway, suggesting that the lack of volume in recent trading belies the sudden rise in quotations.
1947 Sun (Baltimore) 8 Jan. 18/1 The [stock-market] ticker tape frequently was idle until the final hour when sufficient offerings arrived to quicken the pace. There was nothing like a run-away, however.
2001 R. D. Edwards & J. Magee Tech. Anal. of Stock Trends (ed. 8) x. 178 See Figure 39 for runaways complete with gaps.
4. Chiefly U.S. A track or pathway regularly made by an animal, esp. a deer. Cf. runway n. 1a. Now rare.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > track, trail, or path > [noun] > habitually used by animals
run1575
runway1828
runaway1832
beat1834
1832 Hazard's Reg. Pennsylvania 10 Mar. 160/2 He was started on the runaway, and was greeted with a fire from two of the hunters.
1866 W. Stamer Recoll. Life Adventure I. x. 249 There are easier things to hit than a four-year-old buck, tearing along a runaway, with half a dozen dogs at his heels.
1885 T. Roosevelt Hunting Trips v. 185 The hunter is stationed at a runaway over which deer will probably pass.
1944 Living off Land: Man. Bushcraft ii. 32 Carry a few snares..set them on the runaways through the grass or bushes... Set the noose in a spot where the runaway is narrow.
5.
a. An easily won race or contest; a victory won by a substantial margin. Cf. walk-away n. at walk v. Compounds.
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society > society and the community > dissent > competition or rivalry > [noun] > a contest or competition > easy
walkover1829
runaway1901
shoo-in1939
push-in1948
no contest1959
1901 Wisconsin Alumni Mag. Apr. 304/1 The first place was a runaway for the First Regiment of Chicago.
1912 Automobile 13 June 1312/1 This [match] was a runaway for Grant as he finished 3 miles ahead of Cobe, while Basle stopped in the sixth mile.
1967 Boston Sunday Herald 14 May 2–5/2 Nineteen hits, 14 walks and three big innings added up to a 26–4 runaway for Bates over Brandeis Saturday.
2003 A. Schapiro Millicent Fenwick x. 145 Her victory, while solid, was not a runaway.
b. A hugely successful book; = runaway best-seller at sense B. 3b.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > kind of book > books as sold > [noun] > best-seller or quick-seller
bestseller1896
bestsellership1920
quick-seller1926
runaway best-seller1937
runaway1941
megabook1980
megaseller1983
1941 N.Y. Times 21 Oct. l21 (advt.) Gypsy Rose Lee's book is a runaway!.. Just two weeks after publication, The G-String Murders is selling at a Standing Room Only rate.
1956 Publisher's Weekly 28 Jan. 564/2 There were no runaways, which was the best thing about this season. We did well with a number of titles, but sales were spread over a lot of books.
1976 ‘G. Black’ Moon for Killers ii. 23 That book didn't need promoting. It was a runaway.
2006 Herald News (Passaic County, New Jersey) (Nexis) 24 Sept. b4 There were no runaways, but there were solid performers in the mass-market (paperback) categories.
B. adj.
1.
a. Having run away, escaped, or deserted; that is a fugitive. Also: having a tendency to run away. Frequently of escaped slaves or convicts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > [adjective] > running away > having run away
fugitive1467
forloppin?a1513
runaway1548
runagate1653
absconded1735
decamped1887
1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. M iiij A Syllogisim thus formed of such a theuing maior, a runaway minor, and a trayterous consequent.
1556 N. Grimald tr. Cicero Thre Bks. Duties i. f. 17 A runawaye traytour from Pyrrhus had promised the Senate, that he wolde giue the king poyson, and kill him.
1632 in S. R. Gardiner Rep. Cases Star Chamber & High Comm. (1886) 111 One of them is an Irish runne away footman.
1651 J. Saint-Amard tr. F. Micanzio Life Father Paul sig. E8v I have seene many of that run-a-way [1676: run-away] race..who..would give a leape into such a compendious way of life.
1699 N. Carolina Colonial Rec. (1886) I. 514 A particular law..injoyns all persons on a penalty to apprehend runaway Negroes.
1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 135 They were driven upon their own Friends, who..were trodden down by their own run-away Brethren.
1781 Morning Chron. 14 Aug. The Blacksmith at Gretna Green..is always found at work..; upon a summons from a runaway couple, the hammer is instantly thrown down, the apron lain on one side, [etc.].
1804 R. Sutcliff Trav. N. Amer. (1811) iii. 58 Whenever he saw a Negro whom he judged to be a runaway slave, he would..jump from his work-board.
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. xii. 245 A population, of which rather more than half were runaway rebels and murderers.
1876 W. Black Madcap Violet vii. 59 If she was a runaway school-girl, there was little fear about her.
1922 A. P. Terhune Black Cæsar's Clan ii. 58 He was of no mind to introduce himself at the Standish home, a second time, as the returner of a runaway dog.
1977 Time 30 May 14/2 Rhodesian officials shrugged off Kaunda's declaration as the diplomatic equivalent of a mosquito bite, but the brutal civil war in the runaway British colony continues.
1999 P. Straub Mr. X cxxv. 443 This bracelet probably belonged to a runaway smack addict who peddled her tail along Chester Street.
b. Relating to, connected with, or accompanied by running away or (esp.) elopement. Frequently in runaway marriage, runaway match.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > wedding or nuptials > [adjective] > types of wedding
civila1602
runaway1720
coemptive1875
confarreate1880
farreate1880
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > wedding or nuptials > [noun] > manner of marrying > elopement
Gretna Green1813
runaway1833
runaway match1838
1720 (title) Votes of the Irish Society of Fortune-hunters; otherwise call'd, the Killing Captain's Club, &c. being a banter on runaway-marriages.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa III. xxxi. 167 That I might not make such a giddy and run-away appearance to any of his relations.
1775 R. B. Sheridan St. Patrick's Day ii. iv But I always knew Lauretta was a runaway name.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas I. iii. ii. 340 I will not say a word about the runaway trick.
1838 E. C. Gaskell Let. 17 Aug. (1966) 27 Wm has promised..to marry you if it comes to a runaway match.
1882 E. D. Neill in E. D. Neill & C. S. Bryant Hist. Houston County xlv. 276/2 Jack's marriage was in keeping with the man, it was a runaway affair.
1907 W. De Morgan Alice-for-Short xxviii. 280 Don't you go making a runaway match with a ramshandry sort o' half-French girl.
1961 Rotarian June 18/1 Confirming evidence could be piled skyscraper high on the connection between runaway marriages and divorce.
1992 C. Harris Bone to Pick vi. 73 Sally is..the veteran of an early runaway marriage that left her with a son to raise and a reputation to make.
2.
a. Of a horse or vehicle: no longer under the control of the rider or driver; running out of control. Also figurative. Cf. runaway train n. at Compounds.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [adjective] > that escapes from rider or driver
runaway1607
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice ii. 103 This manner of reclayming a runne away horse.
1692 W. Hope Compl. Fencing-master (ed. 2) 130 Your Horse, if he be not a Runn-away-jade.
1719 in T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth IV. 16 A Run-away Beast that will not be held in..a very Heilding.
1775 J. Jekyll Let. Mar. in Corr. (1894) i. 2 We had a runaway mare in the shafts from Croydon.
1822 Ld. Byron Vision of Judgm. ii To wind up the sun and moon, Or curb a runaway young star or two.
1843 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. Apr. 245 No runaway engine..can, by any possibility, run into the standing train, but must shoot ahead.
1865 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 295 My black mare..got her foot hurt by a run-away cart.
1904 Phrenol. Jrnl. Dec. 396/1 Mrs. Talbot J. Taylor's brindle bull terrier..stopped a runaway horse yesterday and so probably saved a very small boy's life.
1957 Times 30 Aug. 8/6 A runaway 70-ton Army transporter..careered downhill into the village of Carlton..after its brakes had failed.
1997 Weekly World News 31 Mar. 37/3 The runaway bus flipped over and some of the 23 kids were permanently disabled in the accident.
b. More generally: out of control; unrestrained, rampant; developing at an ever-increasing rate.
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the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > very great
swappingc1440
bumping1566
thumping1576
swingeinga1592
knocking1598
gigantical1604
gigantine1605
gigantean1611
gigantal?1614
thundering1618
whoppinga1625
humming1654
rapping1657
whisking1673
threshing1707
sousing1735
nation1765
heroic1785
runaway1790
spanking1791
gigantic1797
whacking1797
cracking1834
ringing1834
bouncing1842
walloping1847
stavingc1850
banging1864
howling1865
whooping1866
smacking1888
God almighty1913
Christ almighty1961
1790 T. Twining Let. 9 Nov. (1991) I. 361 He is..[not] a man subject to Rousseau's run-away imagination.
1849 A. P. Eardley-Wilmot Manning Navy 114 The expenditure of course, was of the runaway character.
1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel I. iii. xxix. 268 Others have..a runaway hobby that there's no stopping.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. III. 160 The cardiac pulsations become extremely rapid; and a condition is produced which may be termed a ‘runaway heart’.
1925 Scribner's Mag. July 59 All of them expressed relief that predictions of a ‘runaway market’ for staple products had not been fulfilled.
1960 New Left Rev. Sept. 40/1 The sit-ins stimulated a similar burst, a run-away brush fire of activity for all sorts of other aims.
1967 Listener 21 Dec. 807/2 Lots of aspects of the world..are..‘in a runaway condition’; population growth, technological growth, the destruction of Nature, to name only three.
1995 Billboard 3 June 113/4 The Dallas show..has avoided the ‘“Water-World”-type’ runaway expenses of past shows.
2004 Wall St. Jrnl. 12 Jan. (Central ed.) a4/2 They believed gross domestic product..couldn't grow much faster than 2% a year..without sparking runaway inflation.
3.
a. Of a victory or (occasionally) defeat: won or conceded by a substantial margin; resounding. Of a race or contest: characterized by such an outcome.
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society > society and the community > dissent > competition or rivalry > [adjective] > types of competition
drawn1610
indifferent?1611
cut-throat?a1625
equal1653
runaway1797
close-run1813
neck and neck1828
tight1828
dog-eat-dog1872
winner-take(s)-all1969
two-horse1976
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > [adjective] > winning > easily won
runaway1797
1797 T. Holcroft Adventures Hugh Trevor IV. ii. 12 The crowd..fearing it should be a run-away victory, was rather willing to press upon and push me forward.
1844 Era 4 Aug. It was a runaway race, and won by Coombes's party, being first, and Pocock's second.
1895 Daily News 29 May 3/5 Mr. J. Best's representative, who scored a run-away victory from Sancho Panza.
1900 Westm. Gaz. 8 Jan. 9/3 The game was a thoroughly good one from start to finish, there was nothing of a runaway character about it.
1930 J. Buchan Castle Gay i. 15 Half-time came with a faint hope that there was still a chance of averting a runaway defeat.
1951 Jet 20 Dec. 48 The Chicago Bears won a runaway game, 45 to 21.
1991 Daily Tel. 5 Jan. 26/2 Tyrone Bridge's three runaway wins have all been at two and a half miles or beyond.
b. Esp. in commercial contexts: hugely successful; overwhelming; indisputable. Frequently in runaway best-seller, runaway success.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > kind of book > books as sold > [noun] > best-seller or quick-seller
bestseller1896
bestsellership1920
quick-seller1926
runaway best-seller1937
runaway1941
megabook1980
megaseller1983
1900 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Jrnl.-Gaz. 8 June 8/5 (advt.) Just received our fifth shipment of Automatic Reclining Go-Carts. We're having a ‘runaway’ sale on these.
1937 Life 20 Sept. 3/1 (advt.) The novel that has become America's new runaway best-seller.
1942 Billboard 14 Nov. 61/3 The former runaway favorite, Tweedle-o-Twill, the popularity of which seems to be beginning to wane a bit.
1968 M. Jones Survivor ii. 27 Down in Flames had been such a runaway best-seller in 1946 that there were bound to be people who remembered it.
1976 N. Botham & P. Donnelly Valentino ix. 71 His plan was a runaway success.
1992 Stage 17 Dec. 21/3 A Touch of Frost has been a runaway hit with audiences of over 15 million.
4. Of a person's chin: receding.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > chin > [adjective] > types of
vaultedc1515
runaway1827
chinnya1896
1827 London Mag. May 12 That fair gentleman with the runaway chin is the Man in the Moon.
1891 C. MacEwen Three Women in Boat 100 He has cut off his beard! Heavens! he's got a runaway chin!
1920 C. Carswell Open Door! ii. i. 152 How could Nilsson be so delighted with this silly, common, little over-dressed person... Why, she spoke with a villainous South Side accent, and had a runaway chin!
1969 Times 17 Mar. 10/5 His simpletons with their runaway chins were silly in an earlier sense of that word than ours.
2005 H. Porter Brandenburg Gate v. 51 His runaway chin and sloping forehead meant that his face ran to a bulbous point at his nose.
5.
a. U.S. Designating a factory or workshop which is transferred from one location to another in order to prevent trade-union activity or evade labour regulations.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > factory > [adjective] > type of factory
runaway1927
1927 Amer. Labor Year Bk. 8 iii. 111 The international union..succeeded in organizing part of the run-away shops in New Jersey.
1933 Rotarian Nov. 24/1 One of the worst forms of labor exploitation in this trade has been the prevalence..of the runaway factory.
1952 J. A. Morris Woolen & Worsted Manuf. Southern Piedmont iv. 118 Even though few ‘runaway plants’ are involved in the southern woolen and worsted movement, the effect of unions is nevertheless felt.
1967 Wall St. Jrnl. 12 Dec. 1 Runaway plants set up by U.S. companies just inside Mexico to utilize cheap labour will come under increasing attack from the AFL-CIO.
1992 Co-op Amer. Q. Winter 14/2 Consumers, he says, should boycott ‘runaway shops’ such as Levi-Strauss, which moved operations to Costa Rica.
b. Of a flag: that is a flag of convenience (flag of convenience n. at flag n.4 1f). Of a ship: flying such a flag.
ΚΠ
1949 Times 6 Apr. 7/1 A Bill..to authorize the exclusion of so-called ‘runaway flag’ vessels from participation in the carriage of cargoes directed by the Economic Cooperation Administration.
1954 West Coast Sailors 1 Oct. 4/1 Why has Mr. Rothschild started this program to assist operations of runaway foreign flags?
1963 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 350 162/2 More of the ‘runaway’ ships are registered under flags of nations that have a more ‘genuine link’ with the owner than mere convenience.
1993 R. L. Friedheim Negotiating New Ocean Regime vi. 175 Ships registered..in states providing a haven for runaway-flag or flag-of-convenience vessels.
Compounds
runaway knock n. a knock given at a door as a trick or joke, the perpetrator running away before the door is opened; (also) a game in which this trick is played; cf. runaway ring n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > mischievous or practical joking > [noun] > instance of > specific
mustarding1679
runaway ring?1790
runaway knock1813
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > other children's games > [noun] > others
buckle-pit1532
marrowbone1533
put-pin?1577
primus secundus1584
fox in the hole1585
haltering of Hick's mare1585
muss1591
pushpin1598
Jack-in-the-box1600
a penny in the forehead1602
buckerels1649
bumdockdousse1653
peck-point1653
toro1660
wheelbarrow1740
thread-needle1751
thrush-a-thrush1766
runaway ring?1790
Gregory1801
pick-point1801
fighting cocks1807
runaway knock1813
tit-tat-toe1818
French and English1820
honeypots1821
roly-poly1821
tickle-tail1821
pottle1822
King of Cantland1825
tip-top-castle1834
tile1837
statue1839
chip stone1843
hen and chickens1843
king of the castle1843
King Caesar1849
rap-jacket1870
old witch1881
tick-tack-toe1884
twos and threes1896
last across (the road)1904
step1909
king of the hill1928
Pooh-sticks1928
trick or treat1928
stare-you-out1932
king of the mountain1933
dab cricket1938
Urkey1938
trick-or-treating1941
seven-up1950
squashed tomato1959
slot-racing1965
Pog1993
knights-
1813 J. Roby Jokeby i. xxv. 25 Tho' boy, he lov'd not boyish tricks, Run-away knocks and throwing bricks.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) ii. 8 ‘I see you,’ cried Miss Pecksniff, to the ideal inflictor of a runaway knock.
1911 K. Tynan Paradise Farm viii. 51 I feel, from sheer lightness of heart, that I must go out and do something; give runaway knocks at the neighbours' houses.
2005 Sunday Independent (Ireland) (Nexis) 17 July When I was a kid we knew how to slog apples and play run away knock.
runaway reaction n. (a) a disorder found in troubled adolescents who perceive running away to be a solution to difficulties in the home, at school, etc.; (b) a chemical or nuclear reaction that is accelerated by the products of the reaction or its effects (such as a rise in temperature), so that it becomes uncontrollable and continues until there are no reactants left.
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1930 G. E. Partridge in Q. Bull. Psychiatric Clinic Maryland Training School for Boys Aug. (title) The Runaway Reaction.
1940 U.S. Patent 2,194,363 2/1 Effective stirring or shaking of the charge also tends to dissipate the heat of reaction more uniformly so that danger of a runaway reaction, leading..to an explosive production of carbonate..can be entirely avoided.
1971 Amer. Jrnl. Psychiatry Aug. 169/2 While the definition of the ‘runaway reaction’ is a symptomatic one in terms of repeatedly running away from home overnight, the common etiology can be explained as an attempt to escape from a rejecting or disturbing home situation by running away.
1978 Ecol. Bull. 27 67 The accident was due to a run-away reaction in a reactor in which trichlorophenol was being prepared from tetrachorobenzene.
1987 P. M. Sullican & J. M. Scanlan in J. Gabarino et al. Special Children, Special Risks vii. 134 Youngsters with elevated externalizing scores exhibited poor peer relationships, seductive behavior and/or promiscuity, runaway reactions, substance abuse, and/or abuse of others.
2009 G. Centi & S. Perathoner in F. Cavani et al. Sustainable Industr. Chem. i. 49 The hazard of concern is a runaway reaction causing high temperature and pressure and potential reactor rupture.
runaway ring n. a ring given at a door as a trick or joke, the perpetrator running away before the door is opened; cf. runaway knock n.In quot. ?1790: a person playing such a trick.
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the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > mischievous or practical joking > [noun] > instance of > specific
mustarding1679
runaway ring?1790
runaway knock1813
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > other children's games > [noun] > others
buckle-pit1532
marrowbone1533
put-pin?1577
primus secundus1584
fox in the hole1585
haltering of Hick's mare1585
muss1591
pushpin1598
Jack-in-the-box1600
a penny in the forehead1602
buckerels1649
bumdockdousse1653
peck-point1653
toro1660
wheelbarrow1740
thread-needle1751
thrush-a-thrush1766
runaway ring?1790
Gregory1801
pick-point1801
fighting cocks1807
runaway knock1813
tit-tat-toe1818
French and English1820
honeypots1821
roly-poly1821
tickle-tail1821
pottle1822
King of Cantland1825
tip-top-castle1834
tile1837
statue1839
chip stone1843
hen and chickens1843
king of the castle1843
King Caesar1849
rap-jacket1870
old witch1881
tick-tack-toe1884
twos and threes1896
last across (the road)1904
step1909
king of the hill1928
Pooh-sticks1928
trick or treat1928
stare-you-out1932
king of the mountain1933
dab cricket1938
Urkey1938
trick-or-treating1941
seven-up1950
squashed tomato1959
slot-racing1965
Pog1993
knights-
?1790 Adventures of Pin iv. 72 When he had pulled it [sc. a bell]..his hand was all bedaubed with treacle..which he owned he had put on, to catch run-away rings.
1805 G. Colman Who wants Guinea? ii. ii. 22 Plenty of visitors and runaway rings to you!
1840 R. H. Barham Lady Rohesia in Ingoldsby Legends 1st Ser. 281 St. Peter..went back to his lodge, grumbling at being hoaxed by a runaway ring.
1952 A. Powell Buyer's Market iii. 163 Three or four bells..set beside the door at a height from the ground effectively removed from children's runaway rings.
runaway selection n. Biology sexual selection for traits which do not contribute to survival or which are detrimental to it, but which nevertheless increase the reproductive success of animals possessing them, so that there is positive feedback for their maintenance and augmentation over the generations; more fully runaway sexual selection.Sexual ornamentation such as the elaborate tail of the male peacock is cited as a typical example of this.
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1930 R. A. Fisher Let. 16 July in Genetical Theory Nat. Selection (1999) App. ii. 306 I must have another shot about the runaway sexual selection, but I will not take long because I think you will see it better in three words than in three hundred.]
1975 Science 14 Nov. 633/1 We consider the extraordinary male dimorphism..that can arise when a runaway sexual selection among the members of the transformed or older sex..permits a small difference in size or age to confer a disproportionate difference in fertility.
1994 M. B. Andersson Sexual Select. xvii. 423 In plants, runaway selection by genetic coupling seems less likely for floral display, as the conspicuous flower and the attracted pollinator belong to different species.
2008 Ottawa Citizen 12 Feb. a5 Some evolution experts..argue it's not true ‘runaway selection’ in the biological sense, or it would lead to more offspring, not fewer.
runaway star n. Astronomy a star that moves rapidly relative to neighbouring objects, esp. one with an unusually large proper motion.
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1873 Eng. Mech. 16 445/2 Runaway stars... Seeing that he has discovered that..[the stars of the Great Bear] are running away from us at the rate of 30 miles per second, how long will it be before they become invisible to the naked eye?
1881 A. K. Bartlett Stud. in Astron. (ed. 2) 40 The greatest velocity that has been recognized among the stars, is found in the motion of a star known as 1830 Groombridge,—or the ‘Runaway Star’, as it is sometimes called.
1946 W. T. Skilling & R. S. Richardson Sun, Moon & Stars iv. 185 The fastest known star is one called Barnard's runaway star, named for the Yerkes astronomer who first observed its rapid motion.
2003 J. Scalzi Rough Guide to Universe 244 Mu Columbae, which is known as a ‘runaway star’ because of the high speed—more than sixty miles per second—at which it hurtles through the galaxy.
runaway switch n. Railways and Mining a switch (switch n. 3a) for diverting a runaway railway vehicle on to a siding.
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1887 Eng. Mech. 14 Jan. 436/1 I might..be allowed to mention the matter of runaway switches. They are used on a great many locations throughout the kingdom, where in case of a train running back, it is turned off the line on to a rising bank.
1911 Act 1 & 2 George V c. 50 § 46 (4) Runaway switches or other suitable contrivances shall be provided..to prevent accidents in the event of a tub running away.
2007 A. K. Lomas & D. S. Mathur in P. Chaturvedi Occup. Safety, Health & Environment & Sustainable Econ. Devel. xvii. 149 Use stop block, run away switch, buffer etc. as per need.
runaway train n. a train which is no longer under the control of a driver; frequently figurative with reference to an unstoppable or uncontrollable situation.
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society > travel > rail travel > [noun] > accident on railway
run-off1847
runaway train1848
derailment1850
train wreck1876
derailing1884
runaway1886
train crash1904
1848 Observer 23 Oct. 7/4 (heading) Runaway train.
1868 W. Bowness Rustic Stud. in Westmorland Dial. i. 74 Rampadjus pulses, an' fireaway brain Wer' pood up at yance, like a runaway train, When t' ingin' went wheeamly as clock-wark again.
1905 Smart Set May 46/2 I should say that the universe was a runaway train on a line full of curves, grades and tunnels.
1984 Austral. Financial Rev. 9 Nov. 18/3 A runaway train filled with uncontrolled bureaucrats may be our new form of government.
2002 Daily Tel. 17 May 7/4 A runaway train gathered speed for half a mile down a track without a driver before ploughing through buffers and derailing 10ft from a main line.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.adj.1534- longwaited
- longwaitedfor
- longwall
- longwandering
- longward
- longwards
- longwarped
- longway
- longway dance
- longways
- longways dance
- longwayser
- longwayses
- longwaysest
- longwearing
- longwedded
- longwheelbase
- longwhiskered
- longwilled
- longwinded
- longwinded whistler
- longwindedly
- longwindedness
- longwindednesses
- longwing