as in to flee
to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening
we skedaddled as soon as we saw the snake entering our campsite
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Recent Examples of skedaddle
There’s good reason to skedaddle too since more than rest and mending are going on inside and out.
—
Randy Myers, Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2026
Many politicians with ambitions for higher office arrive at events, are introduced, wave, shake a few hands and skedaddled to the next block on the schedule.
—Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 19 July 2025
But not on this episode, because Abby and the gang were already skedaddling back to Seattle.
—Tom Gliatto, People.com, 21 Apr. 2025
The Nazis took the bait, hook, line and sinker, and skedaddled to Sardinia, smoothing the way for the Allies to take Sicily, a major turning point in World War II.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 21 Mar. 2025
The Nazis took the bait, hook, line and sinker, and skedaddled to Sardinia, smoothing the way for the Allies to take Sicily and marking a major turning point in World War II.
—Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 21 Mar. 2025
The sun's peeping out, and the budding journalists skedaddle outside, where their friends are just arriving.
—Lauren Migaki, NPR, 22 Feb. 2025
The Confederates saw the score and promptly skedaddled.
—Scott Spillman, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2025
Among the five Lab rats are two bosses: onscreen personality Edna (Chloë Sevigny) and Dave (Simon Rex), her partner in business and life, who soon skedaddles back to the States to deal with some legal matters that everyone but Edna is aware of.
—Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Randy Myers, Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2026
Many politicians with ambitions for higher office arrive at events, are introduced, wave, shake a few hands and skedaddled to the next block on the schedule.
—Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 19 July 2025
But not on this episode, because Abby and the gang were already skedaddling back to Seattle.
—Tom Gliatto, People.com, 21 Apr. 2025
The Nazis took the bait, hook, line and sinker, and skedaddled to Sardinia, smoothing the way for the Allies to take Sicily, a major turning point in World War II.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 21 Mar. 2025
The Nazis took the bait, hook, line and sinker, and skedaddled to Sardinia, smoothing the way for the Allies to take Sicily and marking a major turning point in World War II.
—Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 21 Mar. 2025
The sun's peeping out, and the budding journalists skedaddle outside, where their friends are just arriving.
—Lauren Migaki, NPR, 22 Feb. 2025
The Confederates saw the score and promptly skedaddled.
—Scott Spillman, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2025
Among the five Lab rats are two bosses: onscreen personality Edna (Chloë Sevigny) and Dave (Simon Rex), her partner in business and life, who soon skedaddles back to the States to deal with some legal matters that everyone but Edna is aware of.
—Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for skedaddle
Verb
-
The suspect fled from the hospital after the shooting and was later taken into custody, where a weapon was recovered, the Police Department said.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Apr. 2026
-
In May 2020, sheriff’s deputy Aaron Russell, who was assigned to the Central Jail, shot and killed 36-year-old Nicholas Bils as Bils fled, unarmed, after slipping out of handcuffs just outside the facility.—
Kelly Davis,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Coe reportedly was hospitalized several years ago with Covid-19 and had mostly retreated from public appearances since then, though it is not known whether Covid played a part in his passing.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Or, retreat to peaceful Bluffside Gardens with ultramodern cabins that offer direct trail access.—
Sarah Miller,
Midwest Living,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
By the final showdown, the production has made use of every bit of stage space, with sensational flying sequences (choreographed by Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant) that allow the vampires to float, hover, and—in one especially intense moment—dive from that bridge.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Worst of all, like Zoolander 2 did before it, the film badly miscalculates the value of showbiz and industry cameos, which reach critical mass when the team members fly to Milan and, weirdly, only one of the latter (Donatella Versace, having an awkward lunch with Emily) seems to work.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Her husband’s former colleagues had bolted a memorial plaque to him on the wall between the third and fourth reactor units.—
Lizzie Johnson,
New Yorker,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Instead of bearing fishing poles, most have Soviet-era heavy machine guns bolted to their bows with a small rocket launcher atop.—
Jon Gambrell,
Fortune,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The Knicks made life difficult for him in the halfcourt, and once that happened, Atlanta’s offense kept running into dead ends.—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Funding to run the Orange Line 24 hours a day, one of the first major service improvements that acting CTA President Nora Leerhsen floated after lawmakers approved new transit funding last fall.—
Talia Soglin,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The irony of the baseball game did not escape me, the two of us sitting next to each other, enjoying America’s pastime together, the way a father and son might do.—
Cressida Leyshon,
New Yorker,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Ask Theo Epstein, who once escaped the Henry regime in a gorilla suit, only to return, win a second Series and then bolt for the Chicago Cubs.—
Ken Rosenthal,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Skedaddle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skedaddle. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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