to outrun the constable - Glite Dictionary

Examples

She tried to outrun the constable but was eventually caught a few streets away.
Did she really outrun the constable last night?
After the robbery, the thief hoped to outrun the constable through the dark alleyways.
It's hard to outrun the constable when the police are using fast patrol cars.
After the robbery, the thief hoped to outrun the constable through the dark alleyways.
It's hard to outrun the constable when the police are using fast patrol cars.
She tried to outrun the constable but was eventually caught a few streets away.

Synonyms

to get away

vsto outrun the constable

786 4.1

To avoid being punished for something you did wrong

focuses specifically on escaping law enforcement or avoiding debt

to evade

vsto outrun the constable

52 4.4

To get away from someone or something by being clever and tricky

means physically escaping from law authorities rather than clever avoidance

to abscond

vsto outrun the constable

Formal

11 8.5

To leave quickly and secretly with money or things to avoid being caught

describes direct fleeing from law enforcement rather than a secret long absence

Antonyms

to arrest

∞ 3.4

To detain someone and take them to the police station

How Escaped

to outrun the constable

UK

9.9

to escape

∞ 1.0

to arrest

∞ 3.4

to capture

884 2.8

Surface Forms

outrun the constable infinitive

outrunning the constable present participle

outruns the constable third person singular

outran the constable past

outrun the constable past participle

Morphology

outrun + the + constable

The meaning 'to escape being caught by law enforcement' is directly and transparently derived from 'outrun' (to run faster than) combined with 'the constable' (a police officer): if you can outrun the constable you avoid capture. This is a literal, compositional construction that mirrors equivalent phrasing in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Outrun the constable comes from the simple image of someone running faster than a police officer. A constable was a local policeman on foot, so to outrun them meant to 'escape from' or 'avoid being caught', and that is why the phrase now means the same thing.