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Synonyms

bug out

British  

verb

  1. slang (intr, adverb) to depart hurriedly; run away; retreat

"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
bug out Idioms  

  1. Bulge, as in The news will make her eyes bug out with astonishment . This expression was originally used literally for bulging eyes and later used more loosely as a sign of astonishment. [ Colloquial ; mid-1800s]

  2. Leave, run out, as in This conference is a bore; I think I'll bug out . This usage originated as military slang for deserting and today is used more loosely. [ Slang ; c. 1950]

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.

And, as it turns out, there are more bugs out there worth worrying about than previously reported.

From Salon

His eyes bugged out and reminded me of the Viking berserker.

From Literature

“But what does that mean? I am familiar with the concept of bugging out, but I do not think I have heard the word love before.”

From Literature

I did every dirty job there was: I cleaned outhouses and strained bugs out of cisterns.

From Literature

“There's been a bunch of stuff that's happened over the past 16 months … that is going to make people's eyes bug out.”

From Washington Post

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.