go AWOL

1. To take unauthorized time off from work, school, or other duties: “Let's go AWOL and catch a baseball game this afternoon.” AWOL is an acronym for “absent without leave [permission].” The term originated with the military during World War I.

Example Sentences

For James to decide to go AWOL, he could have ended up in military prison.

Read more on Salon

Can you take us inside James's head when he does go AWOL?

Read more on Salon

Others grow curious and go AWOL.

Read more on Salon

“Getting out of the war automatically means criminal prosecution,” Tabalov said, adding there have been a flurry of criminal cases since December, with prosecutions of soldiers who desert or go AWOL.

Read more on Seattle Times

While it is technically possibly for an IUD to go AWOL—well, according to a piece in Self by Zahra Barnes:

Read more on Slate

Related Words

• betray 
• bolt 
• depart 
• escape 
• flee 
• forsake 
• give up 
• quit 
• vacate