flee

English

Etymology

From Middle English flen, from Old English flēon, 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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fliː/
• Rhymes: -iː

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: flea

Verb

flee (third-person singular simple present flees, present participle fleeing, simple past and past participle fled)

1. (intransitive) To run away; to escape.

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

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 28:1:

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

   • 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./4/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

     As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note.

   • 1940, Rosetta E. Clarkson, Green Enchantments: The Magic Spell of Gardens, The Macmillan Company, page 254:

     When, however, the plant spirits were not strong enough in themselves, then the family called in the Medicine Man. He appeared, a "monster of so frightful mien", with noise making apparatus which produced such a terrifying din that even the hardiest demon was likely to flee.

2. (transitive) To escape from.

   Many people fled the country as war loomed.

   Thousands of people moved northward trying to flee the drought.

   • 1962 October, “Talking of Trains: Passed to you, Mr. Macmillan”, in Modern Railways, page 220:

     The Government, having lit the fuse, is not going to be allowed to flee the explosion.

3. (intransitive) To disappear quickly; to vanish.

   Ethereal products flee once freely exposed to air.

Derived terms

• beflee
• fill and flee

Related terms

• flight

Translations

to run away; to escape

• Afrikaans: vlug (af)
• Albanian: vërdhoj, arratis (sq), iki (sq)
• Arabic: هَرَبَ (ar) (haraba), فَرَّ (farra)

  South Levantine Arabic: هرب (harab)

• Armenian: փախչել (hy) (pʻaxčʻel)
• Asturian: fuxir
• Azerbaijani: qaçmaq (az)
• Basque: ihes egin (eu)
• Belarusian: уцяка́ць impf (ucjakácʹ), уцячы́ pf (ucjačý), бегчы́ impf (bjehčý), убе́гчы pf (ubjéhčy)
• Bengali: পালানো (bn) (palanō), ভাগা (bn) (bhaga), ফেরার করা (pherar kora)
• Breton: redek (br), tec'hout (br), fuiñ
• Bulgarian: бя́гам (bg) impf (bjágam), избягвам (bg) (izbjagvam)
• Burmese: ထွက်ပြေး (my) (htwakpre:), လိုက်ပြေး (my) (luikpre:), ပြေး (my) (pre:)
• Catalan: fugir (ca)
• Chechen: дада (dada)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 逃 (zh) (táo), 奔逃 (zh) (bēntáo), 奔 (zh) (bēn)

• Czech: utéct (cs), utéci (cs) pf, utíkat (cs) impf
• Danish: flygte (da), fly (da)
• Dutch: vluchten (nl), wegvluchten (nl), ontsnappen (nl), vlieden (nl)
• Egyptian: (jfd)
• Esperanto: fuĝi
• Estonian: põgenema
• Faroese: flýggja
• Finnish: paeta (fi), karata (fi)
• French: s’enfuir (fr), prendre la fuite (fr)
• Friulian: fuî
• Galician: fuxir (gl)
• Georgian: გაქცევა (gakceva)
• German: fliehen (de), flüchten (de)
• Gothic: 𐌸𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌷𐌰𐌽 (þliuhan)
• Greek: φεύγω (el) (févgo)

  Ancient Greek: φεύγω (pheúgō), τρέω (tréō)

• Hebrew: נָס (he) (nás)
• Hindi: भागना (hi) (bhāgnā)
• Hungarian: menekül (hu)
• Icelandic: flýja (is)
• Ido: fugar (io)
• Ingrian: paeta, karata
• Irish: teith
• Italian: fuggire (it)
• Japanese: 逃げる (ja) (にげる, nigeru)
• Kabuverdianu: fuji
• Kazakh: қашу (qaşu)
• Khmer: គេច (km) (kɨc), ក្រឡេច (km) (krɑləc), រត់ (km) (rŭət)
• Korean: 달아나다 (ko) (daranada), 도망치다 (ko) (domangchida), 도망가다 (ko) (domanggada)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ھەڵاتن (hellatin), دەرپەڕین (derperrîn)

  Northern Kurdish: revîn (ku), bazdan (ku), bezîn (ku)

  Zazaki: remayen

• Kyrgyz: качуу (ky) (kacuu)
• Lao: ຫນີ (nī)
• Latin: fugiō (la), fugitō (la), perfugio
• Latvian: bēgt
• Lithuanian: bėgti (lt)
• Low German:

  German Low German: flüchten

• Macedonian: по́бегне (póbegne), на́пушти (nápušti)
• Maguindanao: laguy
• Maori: kairere, tūrere, papahoro
• Mongolian: зугтах (mn) (zugtax)
• Northern Sami: báhtarit
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: flykte (no), rømme (no)

  Nynorsk: flykte, rømme

• Occitan: fugir (oc)
• Old Church Slavonic: бѣжати (běžati)
• Old English: flēon, ætflēon
• Old Norse: flýja
• Old Saxon: fliohan
• Ottoman Turkish: قاچمق (kaçmak)
• Persian: گریختن (fa) (gorixtan), فرار کردن (fa)
• Polish: uciec (pl) pf, uciekać (pl) impf, zbiec (pl) pf, umknąć (pl) pf, umykać impf
• Portuguese: escapar (pt), fugir (pt)
• Quechua: ayqey, chinkakapuy, mitikuy
• Romanian: scăpa (ro), evada (ro), fugi (ro)
• Russian: убега́ть (ru) impf (ubegátʹ), убежа́ть (ru) pf (ubežátʹ), удира́ть (ru) impf (udirátʹ), удра́ть (ru) pf (udrátʹ)
• Sami:

  Kildin Sami: поа̄ччкэ (pååččke)

  Lule Sami: báhtarit

• Scottish Gaelic: teich
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бежати impf

  Roman: bežati (sh) impf

• Slovak: utekať impf, utiecť pf
• Slovene: bežati (sl) impf
• Southern Altai: качар (kačar)
• Spanish: huir (es), furtarse (es), fuir (es), fugir, fugarse (es)
• Swedish: fly (sv)
• Tajik: гурехтан (tg) (gurextan)
• Telugu: పారిపోవు (te) (pāripōvu)
• Thai: หนี (th) (nǐi)
• Turkish: kaçmak (tr)
• Turkmen: gaçmak
• Ukrainian: тіка́ти impf (tikáty), утіка́ти impf (utikáty), утекти́ pf (utektý), бі́гти (uk) impf (bíhty)
• Urdu: بهاگنا (bhāgnā)
• Uyghur: قاچماق (qachmaq)
• Uzbek: qochmoq (uz)
• Venetan: fuxir, fùxer, fugér, fugir
• Vietnamese: bôn (vi), bôn đào (vi), bỏ chạy
• Welsh: ffoi (cy)
• Yakut: куот (kuot)
• Yiddish: אַנטלויפֿן (antloyfn)

to escape from

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: փախչել (hy) (pʻaxčʻel)
• Breton: tec'hel (br)
• Bulgarian: избягвам (bg) (izbjagvam)
• Catalan: fugir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: utéci (cs) pf, utíkat (cs) impf
• Danish: flygte (da)
• Dutch: ontkomen (nl), ontlopen (nl), ontvluchten (nl)
• Esperanto: fuĝi
• Finnish: paeta (fi), karata (fi)
• French: fuir (fr), échapper (fr)
• Friulian: fuî
• Georgian: გაქცევა (gakceva)
• German: fliehen (de), entfliehen (de), flüchten (de)
• Icelandic: flýja (is)
• Ido: eskapar (io)
• Irish: teith ó/roimh
• Japanese: 逃げる (ja) (にげる, nigeru)
• Kabuverdianu: fuji
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ڕاکردن (rakirdin)

• Latin: fugio (la), confugio (la), diffugio, profugio, refugio (la), evado, evado
• Macedonian: и́збегне (ízbegne)
• Polish: uciec (pl), uciekać (pl), zbiec (pl), umknąć (pl), umykać
• Portuguese: escapar de, fugir de
• Romanian: fugi (ro)
• Russian: убега́ть (ru) impf (ubegátʹ), убежа́ть (ru) pf (ubežátʹ), удира́ть (ru) impf (udirátʹ), удра́ть (ru) pf (udrátʹ)
• Spanish: huir (es), furtarse (es), fuir (es), fugir, fugarse (es)
• Swedish: fly (sv)
• Telugu: పారిపోవు (te) (pāripōvu)
• Thai: หนี (th) (nǐi)
• Welsh: ffoi (cy)

to disappear quickly

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Breton: tec'hout (br)
• Bulgarian: изчезвам бързо (izčezvam bǎrzo)
• Catalan: esvair-se (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: zmizet (cs) pf, vypařit se pf, zdrhnout (cs) pf (colloquial)
• Dutch: vervliegen (nl), vlieden (nl)
• Finnish: kadota (fi)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: evanesco, aufugio
• Maori: hārewa (of birds)
• Polish: ulotnić się, ulatniać się
• Portuguese: sumir (pt)
• Romanian: (figuratively) a se evapora, dispărea (ro)
• Russian: улету́чиваться (ru) impf (uletúčivatʹsja), улету́читься (ru) pf (uletúčitʹsja)
• Spanish: desvanecerse (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} fuĝi
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} minggat (id), ^{(please verify)} melarikan diri (id)
• Northern Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} revîn (ku), ^{(please verify)} bazdan (ku)

Anagrams

• elfe, feel, fele, leef

Middle English

Noun

flee

1. Alternative form of fle

Scots

Alternative forms

• fle, flei

Etymology

From Middle English flye, from Old English flȳġe, flēoge, from Proto-Germanic *fleugǭ. Compare English fly, Dutch vlieg, German Fliege.

Noun

flee

1. fly