Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
verb
- simple past tense and past participle of flee.
verb (used without object), fled, flee·ing.
verb (used with object), fled, flee·ing.
- to run away from (a place, person, etc.).
verb
- the past tense and past participle of flee 1
verb flees, fleeing or fled
- to run away from (a place, danger, etc); flyto flee the country
- (intr) to run or move quickly; rush; speedshe fled to the door
verb
- a Scot word for fly 1
noun
- a Scot word for fly 2
past tense and past participle of flee (q.v.).
Old English fleon “take flight, fly from, avoid, escape” (contracted class II strong verb; past tense fleah, past participle flogen), from Proto-Germanic *thleukhanan (cf. Old High German fliohan, Old Norse flöja, Old Frisian flia, Dutch vlieden, German fliehen, Gothic þliuhan “to flee”), of unknown origin. Not found outside Germanic.
Weak past tense and past participle fled emerged Middle English, under influence of Scandinavian. Old English had a transitive form, geflieman “put to flight,” which came in handy in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Related: Fleeing.