e·lope

(ĭ-lōp′)

intr.v. e·loped, e·lop·ing, e·lopes

1. To run away with a lover, especially with the intention of getting married.

2. To run away; abscond.

[Perhaps Anglo-Norman aloper, to run away from one's husband with a lover, from Middle Dutch ontlopen, to run away : ont-, away from, along; see ant- in Indo-European roots + lopen, to run.]

e·lope′ment n.

e·lop′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

References in periodicals archive

Imaging being referred to by one of these metonyms: pooper, falling star, wanderer, screamer, feeder, eloper, wetter.

Metonyms: what's in a name?

She reports his hands and wrists are bruised and scratched up from his handcuffs--unlike the eloper's from his alleged ordeal--and Jesus is shackled with handcuffs and additional cuffs on his ankles.

War on the Border Patrol: U.S. prosecutors have targeted Border Patrol agents and other law officers for alleged crimes, winning by pardoning drug dealers, burying evidence, and relying on perjury

I was reminded of this last week when a Cardiff dev- eloper of wind turbines blamed what he called "the Taffia" for the delay in the grand design to cover the Welsh countryside with structures more than 110 metres tall.

It all depends on whether you are standing under the wind turbine

Space constraints prevent me showing how extensive this range of possibilities becomes, but the list attached to the second word, escapee, exemplifies how unhelpful the coverage is in providing neutral alternatives for refugee: noun absconder from public labour, absconder into the woods, absentee, absentee into the woods, absentee without leave, escaper, fleer, prison-breaker runaway, bolter, breakaway, ladino, stampeder truant, eloper dodger, absconder, bilker, eluder fugitive, boat people, reffo, refugee

The Macquarie Word Genius Reference Library

Door alarms have a twofold purpose -- to create a deterrent for the eloper and to notify staff.

Wandering and elopement technologies: a guide

With a registration plate of E10PER, Carlos has named his unique motor the Pink Eloper and hopes to attract some of the 4,000 gay couples who tie the knot in the capital every year.

Pink is new black for cabbie Carlos; SPECIAL ORDER: LTI receives unusual colour request for one of its iconic vehicles