RUN OFF Synonyms: 176 Similar and Opposite Words

run off 1 of 2

verb

Definition of run off

as in to out

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

as in to escape

to get free from a dangerous or confining situation their rebellious daughter's run off because she was disciplined again

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to retreat

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

runoff

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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 run off

Verb

When electricity demand is high, Peace Bridge runs off its battery. — Jennifer McDermott, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2026 Senior is a liar and a scammer, who ran off with another woman when Junior was a kid. — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026

Noun

Lula’s victory in Sunday’s runoff marked the first time since Brazil’s military dictatorship ended in 1985 that the second-highest vote-getter in the first-round elections won the presidency. — Eléonore Hughes, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026 Any type of foreign material can harm a hydrothermal feature, either by clogging the water supply, polluting the water or blocking its runoff channel, according to the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. — Sadie Chafe, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for run off

Recent Examples of Synonyms for run off

Verb

Group chats pulled from Nolan Wells' cellphone show what his friends said before and after the Mississippi teen vanished in early July following a boat outing with friends.

— Skyler Henry, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026
Bunnie Xo’s post-divorce fun is raising eyebrows after a cozy Waffle House outing with 24-year-old reality star Dylan Wolf sent fans into a frenzy over their age gap.

— Lauryn Overhultz, FOXNews.com, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of out

Verb

For all its tests, the company builds realistic simulated environments, red teams these environments itself and with third parties to see whether they can be escaped, and monitors what agents do.

— Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
Most of the work of recovery is about treating whatever is causing people to escape their lives into endless scrolling and stimulation, Kardaras says.

— Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of escape

Verb

Longtime collaborator Erik Blood foregrounds Butler’s dry drum machines in the mix, letting every other element shuffle around them, snaking toward the spotlight for a brief moment and retreating back into the brume.

— Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 23 Oct. 2026
If broadcaster partnerships are helping Netflix expand its offering in Europe and Latin America, India shows why the streamer is unlikely to retreat from investing in local originals.

— Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of retreat

Noun

To keep the inventory fresh, Sean travels to industry conventions, including the Halloween & Party Expo, to see what’s new and decide what to bring back to Charlotte.

— Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 20 Oct. 2026
The feeling may not be mutual with the 28-year-old fresh off a disappointing and turbulent season.

— Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of fresh

Verb

The theme park operator announced the extra safeguard less than two weeks after 42-year-old Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem of Atlanta died after being ejected from his seat on the Goliath coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia.

— Russ Bynum, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2026
Where the investigation stands Preliminary information gathered at the scene from witnesses and employees indicated Kariem had been ejected from the ride, the Cobb County Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit said.

— Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of eject

Verb

Jaros and Rauh calculate that the state will lose money so long as 24 percent of the tax base flees, a condition that’s already been met.

— Ramesh Ponnuru, Washington Post, 27 Oct. 2026
Some senators fled while others braced themselves inside the Senate chamber as Officer Eugene Goodman tried to reason with the mob, and Senate staffers barricaded themselves in offices, hiding.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of flee

Noun

The Hudson River had a little current, fed by freshets from upstream with local rains, and melting snow farther up, in the Adirondacks.

— Ian Frazier, The New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2020
As August turned to September, the sun dropped and the first cold freshet of autumn rainwater flowed out of the mountains and tickled the noses of the salmon waiting off Astoria, where the Columbia meets the Pacific Ocean.

— Patrick Symmes, Harper's magazine, 28 Oct. 2019

Definition of freshet

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Style

“Run off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/run%20off. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of run off

verb

noun

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