skedaddle
[ ski-dad-l ]
/ skɪˈdæd l /
verb (used without object), ske·dad·dled, ske·dad·dling.
to run away hurriedly; flee.
noun
a hasty flight.
RELATED WORDS
move, dash, whiz, speed, scat, blow, vamoose, zip, scamper, split, hustle, run, dart, decamp, bolt, hurry, spur, expedite, fly, rush
Nearby words
- skean dhu,
- skean-dhu,
- skeat,
- skeat, walter william,
- sked,
- skedaddler,
- skee,
- skee-ball,
- skeech,
- skeef
Origin of skedaddle
1860–65, Americanism; compare dial. (Scots, N England) skedaddle to spill, scatter, skiddle to move away quickly
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for skedaddle
skedaddle
/ (skɪˈdædəl) informal /
verb
(intr) to run off hastily
noun
a hasty retreat
Word Origin for skedaddle
C19: of unknown origin
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
skedaddle
"to run away," 1861, American Civil War military slang, of unknown origin, perhaps connected to earlier use in northern England dialect with a meaning "to spill." Liberman says it "has no connection with any word of Greek, Irish, or Swedish, and it is not a blend" [contra De Vere]. He calls it instead an "enlargement of dial. scaddle 'scare, frighten.'" Related: Skedaddled; skedaddling. As a noun from 1870.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper