runaway

Someone who has left home or escaped from a place where they were kept.

• The runaway needed a safe place to sleep.
• Police found two runaways near the station.
• The shelter helps runaways contact their families.

Similar words: escapee

Common phrases: a young runaway, a teenage runaway

A machine or process that continues beyond safe limits because control has been lost.

• A motor runaway damaged the equipment.
• The pilot struggled to stop the trim runaway.
• Engineers added protection against thermal runaways.

Common phrases: a trim runaway, a motor runaway

A victory in which one side wins by a very large amount.

• The game was a runaway.
• Their team won in a runaway.
• Everyone expected a close race, but it became a runaway.

Similar words: landslide, rout

Common phrases: win in a runaway, a complete runaway

Having left home or escaped from somewhere without permission.

• The runaway child was safe.
• They offered food to a runaway prisoner.
• Her parents searched for their runaway daughter.

Similar words: escaped, fugitive

Common phrases: a runaway child, a runaway prisoner

Moving without the person in charge being able to stop or direct it.

• A runaway horse crossed the road.
• The runaway truck crashed into a wall.
• Workers managed to stop the runaway train.

Similar words: uncontrolled

Opposites: controlled

Common phrases: a runaway horse, a runaway train, a runaway truck