get away

See also: getaway, and get-away

get away (third-person singular simple present gets away, present participle getting away, simple past got away, past participle (UK) got away or (US) gotten away)

(literally) To move away (from).
Get away from the edge of the cliff!

Get away from me!
(with 'from' when used with an object) To avoid capture; to escape; to flee (from).
Surround the bank! Don't let the robber get away!

I almost caught the critter, but it got away from me.
(with 'to' when used with an object) To take a break from one's present circumstances; to journey (to), especially on holiday.
This place is really getting me down. I need to get away for a while.

Next weekend we're hoping to get away to the seaside.
To start moving; to depart.
The train got away exactly on time.
- 2007 September 27, Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood, spoken by Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), distributed by Paramount Vantage & Miramax Films:
  I couldn't get away sooner because my new well was coming in at Coyote Hills and I had to see about it.
- 2023 December 27, David Turner, “Silent lines...”, in RAIL, number 999, page 30:
  In 1965, all Coventry's banks closed at noon on Christmas Eve for the first time, to "enable bank staff to get away at a reasonable time".
To slip from one's control.
I can't cope any more. Things are getting away from me.