do a disappearing act

Idioms  

1. Vanish, as in As soon as the teacher came outside, Mary did a disappearing act. This expression describes a sudden disappearance as if by magic and presumably alludes to a magician's performance. [Colloquial; early 1900s]

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Example Sentences

Gnocchi often do a disappearing act in the pan – a character in a Pellegrino Artusi story goes as far as saying a sprite stole them – so to give yours the best chance, you need to use waxy potatoes, plus parmesan, flour, salt and nutmeg.

From The Guardian

The new Gmail offers a partial solution to that: make old emails do a disappearing act.

From Washington Post

From combination home office–guest rooms to living rooms that do a disappearing act, these ideas are here to help.

From Forbes

“I aim to win it back, and I don’t want to see it do a disappearing act before the day of the race.”

From Project Gutenberg