Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To depart in a hurry; abscond.
- intransitive verb To die.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To run away; abscond; make off.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb A jocular word. U. S. To take one's self off; to decamp.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb intransitive, slang to
abscond .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The series I write, The Accidental Adventures, is considered good for "reluctant readers," meaning the books are fast reads, heavy on humor, and when I use a big word like absquatulate, I define it right away, usually in relation to passing gas it means to leave in a hurry.
Charles London: There Are No Boy Books Charles London 2011
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The series I write, The Accidental Adventures, is considered good for "reluctant readers," meaning the books are fast reads, heavy on humor, and when I use a big word like absquatulate, I define it right away, usually in relation to passing gas it means to leave in a hurry.
Charles London: There Are No Boy Books Charles London 2011
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The series I write, The Accidental Adventures, is considered good for "reluctant readers," meaning the books are fast reads, heavy on humor, and when I use a big word like absquatulate, I define it right away, usually in relation to passing gas it means to leave in a hurry.
Charles London: There Are No Boy Books Charles London 2011
-
The series I write, The Accidental Adventures, is considered good for "reluctant readers," meaning the books are fast reads, heavy on humor, and when I use a big word like absquatulate, I define it right away, usually in relation to passing gas it means to leave in a hurry.
Charles London: There Are No Boy Books Charles London 2011
-
The series I write, The Accidental Adventures, is considered good for "reluctant readers," meaning the books are fast reads, heavy on humor, and when I use a big word like absquatulate, I define it right away, usually in relation to passing gas it means to leave in a hurry.
Charles London: There Are No Boy Books Charles London 2011
-
The series I write, The Accidental Adventures, is considered good for "reluctant readers," meaning the books are fast reads, heavy on humor, and when I use a big word like absquatulate, I define it right away, usually in relation to passing gas it means to leave in a hurry.
Charles London: There Are No Boy Books Charles London 2011
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Smart enough to be dumb enough, or dumb enough to be smart enough? absquatulate
Think Progress » Anti-Semitism, U.N.-Bashing Color History of “War on Christmas” Conspiracy 2005
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Sam might have continued writing bright, frivolous pieces for Bret Harte and his bohemian paper indefinitely, had it not become propitious for him to absquatulate again.
Mark Twain Ron Powers 2005
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Sam might have continued writing bright, frivolous pieces for Bret Harte and his bohemian paper indefinitely, had it not become propitious for him to absquatulate again.
Mark Twain Ron Powers 2005
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Certain words used by George St. George are part of the backwoods culture of Davy Crockett, and come from the nineteenth century. absquatulate depart, run away exflunct exhaust, beat thoroughly obflisticated bewildered, confused ramsquaddle demolish ripstavera first-rate person or thing slantindicular in a slanting direction
The Runaway Asteroid Michael D. Cooper
herotuesday commented on the word absquatulate
This is the funniest word I've heard in a long time... it almost matches booger in it's guffaw-factor.
September 23, 2007
rolig commented on the word absquatulate
Now here's a tongue-twister:
Sasquatch absquatulated squeamishly.
December 3, 2007
seanahan commented on the word absquatulate
This is a great word, it's so fun to say.
December 3, 2007
ofravens commented on the word absquatulate
I love this word. Actual, complete telephone conversation between myself and my nineteen-year-old (younger) sister, who was out for dinner, on Saturday night:
Sister: Hi, um, you know that...what's that word from the other day that means "running away and taking another person with you"?
A: ...Honey. You are NOT calling the house at 12:30 just to ask me the definition of a word.
Sister: Yeah, I totally am. What's the word?
A: pause It's 'absquatulate,' sweetheart.
Sister: cracks up
A: cracks up
Sister: Okay okay okay. Bye!
April 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word absquatulate
Oh my stars and garters... how have I lived for so long without knowing this wonderful, wonderful word?!!!
April 8, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word absquatulate
Pterodactyl, I demand that you go list "oh my stars and garters" on my list of Delightful Ejaculations right now. Pretty please!
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word absquatulate
No need to demand, c_b -- I'd be delighted to add to that excellent list. :-)
April 8, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word absquatulate
Hee... now it's there, and I'm happy. :) *sighs*
April 8, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word absquatulate
The term "absquatulate" has become familiar to us during the war. "It comes from a or ab, privative, and squat, western for settle. When a squatter removes, he absquatulates." In peculiar circumstances whole companies have absquatulated.
(Forty years of American life, by Thomas Low Nichols)
June 24, 2008
yarb commented on the word absquatulate
I think someone told me this word was made up by Mark Twain.
June 24, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word absquatulate
Was it Chad? Don't EVER trust him.
(Asativum: I mean Chad, of course.)
June 24, 2008
optimusprime commented on the word absquatulate
Mencken "The American Language" says this word dates back to 1830 amongst settlers in the West. Means "to depart stealthily."
September 1, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word absquatulate
"In the 19th century, the vibrant energy of American English appeared in the use of Latin affixes to create jocular pseudo-Latin 'learned' words. There is a precedent for this in the language of Shakespeare, whose plays contain scores of made-up Latinate words. Midwestern and Western U.S. absquatulate has a prefix ab-, "away from," and a suffix, -ate, "to act upon in a specified manner," affixed to a nonexistent base form -squatul-, probably suggested by squat. Hence the whimsical absquatulate literally means "to squat away from." A more familiar meaning would be "to depart in a hurry."
"A similar coinage is Northern busticate, which joins bust with -icate by analogy with verbs like medicate, and means "to break into pieces." Southern argufy joins argue to a redundant -fy, a suffix meaning "to make; cause to become." Today, these creations have an old-fashioned and rustic flavor curiously at odds with their elegance. They are kept alive in regions of the United States where linguistic? change is slow."
—More Word Histories and Mysteries: From Aardvark to Zombie, from the editors of American Heritage Dictionaries, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2006
September 4, 2008
artoparts commented on the word absquatulate
See: abscond.
October 3, 2008
reesetee commented on the word absquatulate
What are we seeing it for?
October 3, 2008
starkulla commented on the word absquatulate
"Absquatulate" and many more "tall" words are elaborated on in Thomas Pyles’s marvelous book "Words and Ways of American English", New York, NY : Random House, 1952. (Cf. chapter 6, "Some Stylistic Characteristics: Tall Talk, Turgidity, and Taboo".)
May 16, 2009
hernesheir commented on the word absquatulate
To flee a sasquatch.
January 3, 2013