Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

spirit away

Idioms  

  1. Carry off mysteriously or secretly, as in The police found that the documents had been spirited away from the office. This term derives from the noun spirit, in the sense of “a supernatural being such as a ghost.” [Second half of 1600s]

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.

Agents intercepted text messages in which Facey and Sanchez talked about using a private plane to spirit away an underling who had narrowly avoided arrest in Anchorage, prosecutors wrote in the bail motion.

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2025

Later on the day it appeared, refuse collectors arrived to spirit away the fridge-freezer.

From BBC • Apr. 5, 2025

Praying in school can be a challenge, Shafaqat said, and “performing the prayer at school takes the spirit away from the prayer and makes Eid feel less like Eid.”

From Seattle Times • Jun. 15, 2023

By the time police showed up at the print shop, however, Diderot had managed to spirit away the manuscripts, and he eventually saw them all through to publication.

From Washington Post • Feb. 28, 2019

Family lore had it that he possessed unexplained skills and senses, that his nimble hands could spirit away afflictions in both humans and animals.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

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.