skedaddle
Meanings
Plural: skedaddles
Noun
- a hasty flight
- The act of running away; a scurrying off.
Verb
- run away, as if in a panic
- To move or run away quickly.
- To spill; to scatter.
Origin / Etymology
First use appears c. 1861, in the New York Tribune. The word appeared and gained prominence in Civil War military contexts around 1861, and rapidly passing into more general use. Possibly an alteration of British dialect scaddle (“to run off in a fright”), from the adjective scaddle (“wild, timid, skittish”), from Middle English scathel, skadylle (“harmful, fierce, wild”), perhaps of North Germanic/Scandinavian origin, from Old Norse *sköþull; or from Old English *scaþol, *sceaþol (see scathel); akin to Old Norse skaði (“harm”). Possibly related to the Ancient Greek σκέδασις (skédasis, “scattering”), σκεδασμός (skedasmós, “dispersion”). Possibly related to scud or scat. It is possibly a corruption of "Let's get outa here".
Synonyms
beat feet, flee, get lost, hightail, kick rocks, make tracks, move quickly, rush, scat, skidoo, skitter, take off, vamoose
Scrabble Score: 16
skedaddle is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordskedaddle is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
skedaddle is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary