fleeing

verb

present participle of flee
1
as in disappearing
to cease to be visible the fog fled with the arrival of the dawn

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in escaping
to get free from a dangerous or confining situation a murderer who fled on foot

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in retreating
to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening a toddler who fled when the ladybug he had been quietly watching suddenly began flying around the room

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 fleeing In 2009, two Israeli tank shells exploded immediately outside Al-Fakhoora, which was crowded with families fleeing an Israeli ground offensive. — Mosab Abu Toha, New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2026 As expected, the animals became anxious, either fleeing the threatening odor or freezing in place. — Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 7 Oct. 2026 After arriving on the scene, deputies saw a white GMC Yukon fleeing the area. — CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026 He was arrested on a riverbank less than a half-mile from the school after fleeing the scene, according to police. — Claudia Ciobanu, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026 Ireland has also taken in large numbers of Ukrainians fleeing the war. — Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026 Witnesses to the March 8 shooting reported seeing a white Tesla Model 3 with a paper license plate fleeing the scene. — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 30 Sep. 2026 Investigators did not find any trace of an intruder fleeing the area, and the damage to the garage side door was inconsistent with a typical break-in, police testified. — Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 29 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fleeing
  1. disappearing
  2. escaping
  3. retreating
  4. vanishing
  5. flying
  6. bolting
  7. fading
  8. running
Verb
  • Worried about your package disappearing from your porch this holiday season?
    — Savannah Sicurella, AJC.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • But Week 4 brought an especially jarring wave, with stars and indispensable starters disappearing from game after game, giving teams an early lesson in contingency planning.
    — Rick Maese, Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of disappearing
Verb
  • The agency gets the images within 48 hours, then sends out notices to landfill and oil and gas operators when methane is seen escaping.
    — Blanca Begert, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Purdy has been brilliant at moving within and escaping the pocket.
    — Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of escaping
Verb
  • Gabriel Moreno hit an RBI single in the fourth and, after Kyle Hart walked the bases loaded in the sixth, Perdomo cleared them with a double that bounced off the glove of retreating center fielder Jackson Merrill and then off the padded fence.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 26 Sep. 2026
  • The brand has been retreating by the month back to its roots in Florida.
    — Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of retreating
Verb
  • Along with Max, Erica advocated for a charity stamp to benefit vanishing species and has been vocal about LGBTQ+ visibility at baseball games.
    — Madeleine Janz, PEOPLE, 28 Sep. 2026
  • If live sports are the only thing preventing the bundle from vanishing outright, a stable virtual MVPD market has gone a long way toward moderating the overall losses in the pay-TV space.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of vanishing
Verb
  • Bombers flying from South Dakota to targets in Iran would cost more in fuel and flying time than those taking off from England's Cotswolds region, which is 3,900 miles closer to Tehran.
    — Steve Hendrix, Arkansas Online, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Experts who study bats say that, although residents should practice caution, the odds of getting rabies from the flying creatures remain very low.
    — Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of flying
Verb
  • Dyson built the CameraJet around 16 million lines of code and a model trained on 470,000 dental images, bolting a camera, pump, fluid system and software onto a device people have historically cleaned with nylon bristles.
    — Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Now every SaaS company that spent the last three years bolting AI features onto legacy infrastructure just got very expensive news.
    — Rafael Flores, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of bolting
Verb
  • Fixed on a mobile rig that will at times careen and whoosh across the stage when not otherwise holding on Winter, Anderson’s camera catches the expressionism and chiaroscuro of stage lights illuminating and fading off the singer’s face.
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 2 Oct. 2026
  • But hopes of winning the two states have been fading, and the GOP is increasingly focused on playing defense elsewhere with five weeks until the midterm elections.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of fading
Verb
  • Two blocks of six films each, running roughly an hour apiece, will precede the awards and the jury announcement.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Jadan Baugh, who had been receiving some early Heisman Trophy hype after running for 11 touchdowns over his first four games, carried 12 times for only 13 yards.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of running

Browse Nearby Words

fleecy
fleeing
flees
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Cite this Entry

“Fleeing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fleeing. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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