Phrasal verb: run off with

1. To run off with something is to take or steal something that does not belong to you.

Informal English.

 

Examples of use:

1. That dog has run off with my shoe!

2. OK, who has run off with my pen?

3. The builder who was working on our house has run off with our money.

4. The solicitor ran off with £100,000 of his clients' money.

5. In the film we watched last night, the nanny ran off with the baby she was supposed to be looking after.

 

News headline: Thieves run off with giant bobble hat.

 

 

2. To run off with somebody is to secretly go away with someone in order to live with them or marry them, especially when other people think this is wrong. Often used to show disapproval.

Informal English.

 

Examples of use:

1. They were only 16 years old when they ran off with each other.

2. My neighbour's husband has run off with his secretary.

3. My mother ran off with the postman six years ago.

4. Her parents wanted her to marry a man from their community, but she ran off with a man from a neighbouring town.

 

run away with somebody has a similar meaning

 

infinitive	run off with
present simple	run off with and runs off with
-ing form	running off with
past simple	ran off with
past participle	run off with

 

Can you use this phrasal verb in a sentence?

Has somebody run off with something that belongs to you, or someone you know?

 

Image © Mark Wellekötter