From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrunawayrun‧a‧way1 /ˈrʌnəweɪ/ adjective [only before noun] 1 CONTROL#a runaway vehicle or animal is out of control a runaway horse2 FAST/QUICKhappening very easily or quickly, and not able to be controlled The film was a runaway success. runaway inflation a runaway victory3 ESCAPEa runaway person has left the place where they are supposed to be → run away
Examples from the Corpus
runaway• Pyrotechnics, a runaway boulder and a few animatronic Indys are along the way.• They see technology as a runaway force that humans can no longer control.• a runaway freight train• Some economists are now predicting the danger of runaway inflation.• Labour as the party of runaway inflation?• Meanwhile, the astronauts prepared for another close pass of the runaway satellite and the miles of tether suspended below it.• The colonists encountered the problem with runaway slaves.• The distinctive authority of this new act made both national and state governments responsible for the capture and return of runaway slaves.• The book was a runaway success.• Weiss runs a drop-in center for runaway teens.• Leadville roared toward civilization like a runaway train.• He could not get a grip on the runaway world.runaway inflation• A senior official in the State Statistical Bureau warned that demand had to be controlled to avoid runaway inflation.• Labour as the party of runaway inflation?runawayrunaway2 noun [countable] ESCAPEsomeone, especially a child, who has left home without telling anyone and does not intend to come back → run away at run1Examples from the Corpus
runaway• Uncle Fred, or a runaway Makes Good!• She eventually developed a reputation for harboring adolescent runaways who were fleeing oppressive treatment by their captains.• Bush's prepared arrival speech on an airport runaway was drowned by hissing and booing.• Prince Charles Edward was not among the runaways although to rescue him had been the task force's real objective.• The longhorns' ancestors were runaways who grew up wild in the brushy bottoms of south Texas.From Longman Business Dictionaryrunawayrun‧a‧way /ˈrʌnəweɪ/ adjective1runaway costs/prices/ inflation etcECONOMICS costs, prices etc that are increasing uncontrollablythe runaway costs of workers’ compensationBolivia was experiencing runaway inflation and foreign debt.2a runaway success/hit/bestseller etc an extremely successful product, book, film etcThe game has been a runaway bestseller. 