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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

away.

From a place, hence.

4 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adv/əˈweɪ/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/əˈwɛj/British, Southern, Standard/əˈwæɪ/Australia, New-Zealand/əˈwe/Scotland
  1. From a place, hence.

    not-comparable
    He went away on vacation.
  2. Aside; off; in another direction.

    not-comparable
    I tried to approach him, but he turned away.
  3. Aside, so as to discard something.

    not-comparable
    throw away, chuck away, toss away
  4. At a stated distance in time or space.

    not-comparable
    Christmas is only two weeks away.
  5. In or to something's usual or proper storage place.

    not-comparable
    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.

    not-comparable
    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.

    not-comparable
    fade away, die away
    I'll sleep the rest of the day away/out and, hopefully, I'll manage to sleep this hangover off/away.
  8. So as to remove or use up something.

    not-comparable
    The weather has worn away the inscription, and it is no longer legible.
    Please wipe away this spilled drink.
  9. Come away; go away; take away.

    not-comparable
    Away! Be gone! And don't let me see you round here again!
  10. On; in continuance; without intermission or delay.

    not-comparable
    She's been in her room all day, working away at her computer.
  11. Without restraint.

    not-comparable
    You've got questions? Ask away!
    I saw her whaling away at her detractors.
Where this word comes from

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”).

intj/əˈweɪ/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/əˈwɛj/British, Southern, Standard/əˈwæɪ/Australia, New-Zealand/əˈwe/Scotland
  1. Away with you! Go away! Begone!

    Scotland
Where this word comes from

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”).

adj/əˈweɪ/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/əˈwɛj/British, Southern, Standard/əˈwæɪ/Australia, New-Zealand/əˈwe/Scotland
  1. Not here, gone, absent, unavailable, traveling; on vacation.

    not-comparable
    The master is away from home on a course.
    Would you pick up my mail while I'm away.
  2. At a specified distance in space, time, or figuratively.

    not-comparable
    He's miles away by now.
    Spring is still a month away.
  3. Not on one's home territory.

    not-comparable
    This is the entrance for away supporters.
    Next, they are playing away in Dallas.
  4. Out.

    not-comparable
    Two men away in the bottom of the ninth.
  5. Being the player whose ball lies farthest from the hole (or, in disc golf, whose disc lies farthest from the target).

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

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”).

verb/əˈweɪ/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/əˈwɛj/British, Southern, Standard/əˈwæɪ/Australia, New-Zealand/əˈwe/Scotland
  1. To depart; to go to another place.

    Scotland · intransitive · poetic
    At 9 o'clock sharp he awayed to bed.
    I'll away up the road.
Where this word comes from

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”).

adj/əˈweɪ/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/əˈwɛj/British, Southern, Standard/əˈwæɪ/Australia, New-Zealand/əˈwe/Scotland
  1. Misspelling of aweigh.

    alt-of · misspelling
Where this word comes from

See aweigh.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.