away

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English away, awey, awei, oway, o wey, on way, from Old English āweġ, onweġ (“away”), originally on weġ (“on one's way; onward; on”), equivalent to a- (“on”) +‎ way. Cognate with Scots awa, away (“away”), Old Frisian aweg, awei (“away”), Saterland Frisian wäch, wääge (“away”), Dutch weg (“away”), German weg (“away”), Danish væk (“away”), Swedish i väg (“away; off; along”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ə-wā'; IPA^(key): /əˈweɪ/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (UK)

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• Rhymes: -eɪ
• Homophone: aweigh
• Hyphenation: a‧way

Adverb

away (comparative further away, superlative furthest away)

1. From a place, hence.

   He went away on vacation.

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:

     The departure was not unduly prolonged. […] Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments […] ; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity.

   • 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:

     One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.

   • Hence definition

     from here, from this place, away (1 of 4 hence definitions)
2. Aside; off; in another direction.

   I tried to approach him, but he turned away.

3. Aside, so as to discard something.

   throw away, chuck away, toss away

4. At a stated distance in time or space.

   Christmas is only two weeks away.

   • 1948, Carey McWilliams, North from Mexico / The Spanish-Speaking People of The United States, J. B. Lippincott Company, page 25,

     While De Anza was exploring the Bay of San Francisco, seeking a site for the presidio, the American colonists on the eastern seaboard, three thousand miles away, were celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

   • 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:

     From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.

5. In or to something's usual or proper storage place.

   I'll dry the dishes and you put them away.

   Please file away these documents.

6. In or to a secure or out-of-the-way place.

   The jewels were locked away in the safe.

   He was shut away in the castle tower for six months.

7. From a state or condition of being; out of existence.

   fade away, die away

8. So as to remove or use up something.

   The weather has worn away the inscription, and it is no longer legible.

   Please wipe away this spilled drink.

   That's where tourists go to hear great Cuban bands and dance the night away.

9. (as imperative, by ellipsis) Come away; go away; take away.

   Away! Be gone! And don't let me see you round here again!

   • 1933+, Fran Striker, The Lone Ranger, WXYZ-AM

     Hi-yo Silver, away!

   • Ellipsis definition

     A mark consisting of (in English) three periods, historically or more formally with spaces in between, before, and after them, " . . . ", or, more recently, a single character, "…", used to indicate that words have been omitted in a text or that they are missing or illegible, or (in mathematics) that a pattern continues (e.g., 1, ..., 4 means 1, 2, 3, 4). (1 of 5 ellipsis definitions)

   • Lone Ranger definition

     A hero of westerns who wore a mask. (1 of 2 Lone Ranger definitions)
10. On; in continuance; without intermission or delay.

    She's been in her room all day, working away at her computer.

11. Without restraint.

    You've got questions? Ask away!

    I saw her whaling away at her detractors.

Synonyms

• (away from a place): at bay, off, off-, ab-, apo-, de-, out-

Translations

Interjection

away

1. (Northern England) come on!; go on!

   • Come On definition

     Alternative spelling of come-on

   • Go On definition

     To continue in extent. (1 of 6 go on definitions)

Adjective

away (comparative further away, superlative furthest away)

1. Not here, gone, absent, unavailable, traveling; on vacation.

   The master is away from home.

   Would you pick up my mail while I'm away.

   • Here definition

     In, on, or at this place. (1 of 4 here definitions)

   • Go definition

     To move:

     1. To move through space (especially to or through a place). (1 of 75 go definitions)

   • Unavailable definition

     Unavailing; ineffective. (1 of 2 unavailable definitions)

   • Traveling definition

     present participle of travel

   • Vacation definition

     Freedom from some business or activity. (1 of 7 vacation definitions)
2. At a specified distance in space, time, or figuratively.

   He's miles away by now.

   Spring is still a month away.

3. (chiefly sports) Not on one's home territory.

   This is the entrance for away supporters.

   Next, they are playing away in Dallas.

   • Sports definition

     plural of sport

   • Home definition

     A dwelling.

     1. One’s own dwelling place; the house or structure in which one lives; especially the house in which one lives with one's family; the habitual abode of one’s family; also, one’s birthplace.
     2. The place where a person was raised; childhood or parental home; home of one’s parents or guardian.
     3. The abiding place of the affections, especially of the domestic affections.
     4. A house that has been made home-like, to suit the comfort of those who live there. (1 of 16 home definitions)
4. (baseball, following the noun modified) Out.

   Two men away in the bottom of the ninth.

   • Baseball definition

     A sport common in North America, the Caribbean, and Japan, in which the object is to strike a ball so that one of a nine-person team can run counter-clockwise among four bases, resulting in the scoring of a run. The team with the most runs after termination of play, usually nine innings, wins. (1 of 3 baseball definitions)

   • Out definition

     Away from the inside, centre or other point of reference. (1 of 9 out definitions)
5. (golf) Being the player whose ball lies farthest from the hole (or, in disc golf, whose disc lies farthest from the target).
   • 2016, Justin Menickelli, ‎Ryan Pickens, Definitive Guide to Disc Golf

     For example, immediately after every person in the group has teed off, if you are clearly the away player (perhaps because you smacked your drive into the tree closest to the tee pad), you should grab your bag and try to be the first person advancing down the fairway.

   • Golf definition

     A ball game played by individuals competing against one another in which the object is to hit a ball into each of a series of (usually 18 or nine) holes in the minimum number of strokes. (1 of 2 golf definitions)

   • Player definition

     One that plays

     1. One who plays any game or sport.
     2. An actor in a dramatic play.
     3. One who plays on a musical instrument.
     4. A gamer; a player of video games or similar.
     5. A gambler.
     6. A mechanism that actuates a player piano or other automatic musical instrument.
     7. An electronic device that plays audio and/or video media. (1 of 12 player definitions)

   • Ball definition

     A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass. (1 of 24 ball definitions)

   • Hole definition

     A hollow place or cavity; an excavation; a pit; a dent; a depression; a fissure. (1 of 21 hole definitions)

   • Disc Golf definition

     A sport (game) in which players take turns to throw a disc (“frisbee”) on a course to eventually reach a goal (target, netting) attempting to reach the target, and then hit it with as few throws as possible. An analogue of golf using a disc (frisbee) instead of a ball, and throws instead of swings of golf clubs.

Translations

Verb

away (third-person singular simple present aways, present participle awaying, simple past and past participle awayed)

1. (intransitive, poetic) To depart; to go to another place.

   At 9 o'clock sharp he awayed to bed.

   • Poetic definition

     Relating to poetry. (1 of 3 poetic definitions)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Adjective

away (comparative more away, superlative most away)

1. Misspelling of aweigh.

   • Aweigh definition

     Just drawn out of the ground, and hanging perpendicularly; atrip; said of the anchor.

References

• away at OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Yawa

Cebuano

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: a‧way

Verb

away

1. to fight; to contend in physical conflict

   • Fight definition

     To contend in physical conflict, either singly or in war, battle etc. (1 of 8 fight definitions)

   • Contend definition

     To be in opposition; to contest; to dispute; to vie; to quarrel; to fight. (1 of 5 contend definitions)
2. to quarrel; to squabble

   • Quarrel definition

     A dispute or heated argument (especially one that is verbal). (1 of 3 quarrel definitions)

   • Squabble definition

     A minor fight or argument.
3. to go to war

   • Go To War definition

     To enter into an armed conflict. (1 of 2 go to war definitions)

Noun

away

1. a fight; a physical confrontation

   • Physical definition

     Of medicine.

     1. Pertaining to the field of medicine; medical.
     2. That practises medicine; pertaining to doctors, physicianly.
     3. Medicinal; good for the health, curative, therapeutic.

     (1 of 12 physical definitions)

   • Confrontation definition

     The act of confronting or challenging another, especially face to face. (1 of 2 confrontation definitions)
2. a quarrel; a heated argument
3. (sports) a boxing or martial arts match

   • Boxing definition

     present participle of box

   • Martial Arts definition

     plural of martial art
4. a war

   • War definition

     ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Waray.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:away.

Anagrams

• ayaw, yawa

Quechua

Verb

away

1. (transitive) To weave.

   • Weave definition

     To form something by passing lengths or strands of material over and under one another. (1 of 4 weave definitions)

Conjugation

See also

• sinp'ay

Tagalog

Etymology

From Proto-Philippine *áway. Compare Cebuano away and Waray-Waray away.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: a‧way
• IPA^(key): /ˈʔawaj/, [ˈʔɐ.waɪ̯]

Noun

away

1. fight; quarrel; dispute

   • Dispute definition

     An argument or disagreement, a failure to agree. (1 of 2 dispute definitions)

Derived terms

Further reading

• Robert Blust; Stephen Trussel (2010-) Austronesian Comparative Dictionary‎^[1]

Waray-Waray

Noun

away

1. fight; quarrel; altercation; trouble

   • Altercation definition

     Heated or angry dispute

   • Trouble definition

     A distressing or dangerous situation. (1 of 8 trouble definitions)

Yola

Adverb

away

1. Alternative form of awye
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 8:

     More trolleen, an yalpeen, an moulteen away.

     More rolling and spewing, and pining away.

   • Awye definition

     away

References

• Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 86