skedaddle

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   informal: to leave or run away quickly, especially in alarm

   When the guards appeared, the trespassers skedaddled through the back gate.

2. 2
   noun

   informal: a hurried departure or flight

   Their sudden skedaddle left food and tools scattered around the camp.

An American Civil War-era word, widely recorded from 1861. Its origin is uncertain; it may be an alteration of British dialect scaddle, 'to run off in fright.' It quickly spread from military retreat to any hurried departure.

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