absquatulate
[ab-skwoch-uh-leyt]
- to flee; abscond: The old prospector absquatulated with our picks and shovel.
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Origin of absquatulate
1820–30; pseudo-Latinism, from ab-, squat, and -ulate, paralleling Latin-derived words with initial abs- (e.g., abscond, abstention) and final -tulate (e.g., congratulate)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for absquatulate
Historical Examples
Then when some one laughed she added, "You say 'absquatulate' over here, don't you?"
In the High ValleySusan Coolidge
In the 40's to absquatulate was in good usage, but it has since disappeared.
The American LanguageHenry L. Mencken
Absquatulate was a big word, but she understood it, having come across it one day in the Dictionary.
The Poor Little Rich GirlEleanor Gates
Prudence warned them to absquatulate, and they determined to cut their lucky, before the inevitable dénouement.
Camp Fire Yarns of the Lost LegionG. Hamilton-Browne
The hybrid but expressive Americanism absquatulate, means to clear off; the reverse of to squat.
The Sailor's Word-BookWilliam Henry Smyth
absquatulate
- (intr) to leave; decamp
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Word Origin
C19: humorous formation as if from Latin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for absquatulate
v.
1837, "Facetious U.S. coinage" [Weekley], perhaps rooted in mock-Latin negation of squat "to settle." Said to have been used by the U.S. Western character "Nimrod Wildfire" in the play "The Kentuckian," as re-written by British author William B. Bernard and staged in London in 1833. Related: Absquatulated; absquatulating.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper