There is a difference! 'Break out of' This is used in the context of escape - something does not allow you to leave, so you have to 'break out' - think of it as being a prisoner who must 'break' the wall of the prison to get away. It implies you must do something that needs some effort in order to leave. 'Get away' This can have multiple meanings depending on context: "He had to get away from the dangerous area." Using 'get away' implies a sense of urgency - as if something bad will happen to the man if he does not manage to leave. It could be a burning building, or a warzone, or something else bad. "I want to get away from work." This is more of a colloquialism. Similar to above, this implies that failing to leave will result in something bad happening. In this case, I want to leave my work (it can be a place of work, like an office, or even the homework I'm supposed to be doing!) or something bad will happen, like getting stressed. Often used with desire for a holiday ("I want to get away from this stress for a few days.") "Get away from me!" This is something of an exception - when used as a command, it implies urgency the the object leaves fast. Imagine being bothered by people in the street asking for money, you might say "Get away from me! Leave me alone!" You don't want them around you. "To go away" Two possible meanings- "I want to go [away] for a holiday." "away" isn't really necessary in this example, but the meaning is the same. It simply implies that the speaker wants to be somewhere else, and that there is less urgency in doing so. "Go away!" As a command, this is almost identical to "Get away from me!" above. It tells the object to leave! "Run away" This can have multiple meanings too, similar to 'break out' and 'get away'. "He ran away from home." Very similar to 'break out', just implies less of a 'break' and more of an escape. "They ran away from the dangerous area." They went away - past form of 'go' - but they were running!