vamoose
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
vamoosesimple
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vamoosessimple
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have vamoosedperfect
-
has vamoosedperfect
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am vamoosingprogressive
-
are vamoosingprogressive
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is vamoosingprogressive
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have been vamoosingperfect progressive
-
has been vamoosingperfect progressive
Past
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vamoosedsimple
-
had vamoosedperfect
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was vamoosingprogressive
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were vamoosingprogressive
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had been vamoosingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of vamoose
First recorded in 1830–40; from Spanish vamos “let us go,” imperative 1st person plural of ir “to go”
Explanation
When you vamoose, you exit quickly. If you're feeling overwhelmed by the loud music and crazy dancing at your friend's party, you might decide to vamoose without saying goodbye to her. If your grandfather's clearly getting ready to tell the family a long, boring story, you and your cousin might vamoose. Your little brother might prefer to stay at a birthday party long enough to whack the piñata but vamoose before the birthday boy starts opening gifts. In either case, someone leaves suddenly, and somewhat stealthily. Vamoose has been around since the mid-19th century, from the Spanish word vamos, or "let's go!"
Vocabulary lists containing vamoose
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
VR Vamoose: Meta is planning cuts to the metaverse, an arena Mark Zuckerberg once called the future of the company.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 7, 2025
I travel to New York from Bethesda, Md., on a Vamoose Bus, which takes me to West 34th Street.
From New York Times • Sep. 24, 2018
Vamoose bus, but also the train if I recently got paid.
From Washington Post • Mar. 31, 2016
Like fellow passengers, who included thrifty senior citizens and college girls in sorority T-shirts, Podesta was paying just $30 to travel to Washington aboard a Vamoose bus.
From Washington Post • Jun. 9, 2015
It was their intention to go from Key West in the Vamoose, a very fast but frail steam-launch, and to make a landing at some uninhabited point on the Cuban coast.
From Adventures and Letters of Richard Harding Davis by Davis, Charles Belmont
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
