run away with

verb

ran away with; running away with; runs away with

transitive verb

1

disapproving : to leave a person or place in order to live with and have a sexual relationship with (someone) : run off with

She left her partner and ran away with her assistant.

2

: to leave a place with (something that one does not own) : run off with, steal

The clerk ran away with all the store's cash.

3

informal : to be the best or most popular performer in (a performance)

He ran away with the show.

4

: to win (something) very easily : run off with

She ran away with the election.

The Spanish team ran away with the gold medal in Sydney.

—Rick Reilly

5

: to make (someone) do or think something that is not sensible or reasonable

Don't let your imagination run away with you.

"We can't let our enthusiasm run away with us," said Boris Johnson, adding that the public must continue to observe the lockdown restrictions.

—Sarah Boseley and Philip Oltermann

Examples of run away with in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Slide farther down the AFC South standings from Tennessee, which is about to run away with this thing. —The Indianapolis Star, 12 Jan. 2023

In the earlier game this season in Corvallis, OSU ran into a buzzsaw, as Washington hit its first nine shots and scored 49 first-half points to run away with the victory. —oregonlive, 17 Feb. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2