away

• enPR: ə-wā'; IPA^(key): /əˈweɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

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

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”).

away (not comparable)

1. From a place, hence.

   He went away on vacation.

   • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

     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.

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!

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.

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

away

1. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (Northern England) Come on! Go on!
2. (Scotland, dismissal) Away with you! Go away!

away (not comparable)

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.

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.

4. (baseball, following the noun modified) Out.

   Two men away in the bottom of the ninth.

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.

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.

See aweigh

away (comparative more away, superlative most away)

1. Misspelling of aweigh.

• “away”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• Yawa

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *áway.

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

áway (Badlit spelling ᜀᜏᜌ᜔)

1. a fight; a physical confrontation

   Synonym: buno

2. a quarrel; a heated argument

   Synonym: bingkil

3. (sports) a boxing or martial arts match

   Synonym: takos

4. a war

   Synonym: gubat

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:away.

• ayaw, yawa

away

1. (transitive) To weave.

• sinp'ay

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *áway. Compare Cebuano away and Waray-Waray away.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈʔawaj/ [ˈʔa.waɪ̯]
• Rhymes: -awaj
• Syllabification: a‧way

away (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜏᜌ᜔)

1. fight; quarrel; dispute

   Synonyms: alit, alitan, bangay, bangayan, pag-aaway, babag, pagtatalo, hidwaan, tunggalian, labanan, taltalan, talakan

• Blust, Robert, Trussel, Stephen (2010–) “*áway”, in The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *áway.

away

1. fight; quarrel; altercation; trouble

away

1. Alternative form of awye
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 8, page 86:

     More trolleen, an yalpeen, an moulteen away.

     More rolling and spewing, and pining away.

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) 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, published 1867, page 86