Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Fugitive

Fu′gi·tive (fū′jĭ·tĭv), a. [OE. fugitif, F. fugitif, fr. L. fugitivus, fr. fugere to flee. See Bow to bend, and cf. Feverfew.] 1. Fleeing from pursuit, danger, restraint, etc., escaping, from service, duty etc.; as, a fugitive solder; a fugitive slave; a fugitive debtor.

The fugitive Parthians follow. Shak.

Can a fugitive daughter enjoy herself while her parents are in tear? Richardson

A libellous pamphlet of a fugitive physician. Sir H. Wotton.

2. Not fixed; not durable; liable to disappear or fall away; volatile; uncertain; evanescent; liable to fade; — applied to material and immaterial things; as, fugitive colors; a fugitive idea.

The me more tender and fugitive parts, the leaves . . . of vegatables. Woodward.

Fugitive compositions, Such as are short and occasional, and so published that they quickly escape notice.

Syn. — Fleeting; unstable; wandering; uncertain; volatile; fugacious; fleeing; evanescent.

Fu′gi·tive (fū′jĭ·tĭv), n. 1. One who flees from pursuit, danger, restraint, service, duty, etc.; a deserter; as, a fugitive from justice.

2. Something hard to be caught or detained.

Or Catch that airy fugitive called wit. Harte.

Fugitive from justice (Law), one who, having committed a crime in one jurisdiction, flees or escapes into another to avoid punishment.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.