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Webster 1913 Edition


Elope

E-lope′

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Eloped
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Eloping
.]
[D.
ontloopen
to run away; pref.
ont-
(akin to G.
ent-
, AS.
and-
, cf. E.
answer
) +
loopen
to run; akin to E.
leap
. See
Leap
,
Verb.
T.
]
To run away, or escape privately, from the place or station to which one is bound by duty; – said especially of a woman or a man, either married or unmarried, who runs away with a paramour or a sweetheart.
Great numbers of them [the women] have
eloped
from their allegiance.
Addison.

Webster 1828 Edition


Elope

ELO'PE

,
Verb.
I.
[Eng. to leap.]
1.
To run away; to depart from one's proper place or station privately or without permission; to quit, without permission or right, the station in which one is placed by law or duty. Particularly and appropriately, to run away or depart from a husband, and live with an adulterer, as a married woman; or to quit a father's house, privately or without permission, and marry or live with a gallant, as an unmarried woman.
2.
To run away; to escape privately; to depart, without permission, as a son from a father's house, or an apprentice from his master's service.