skedaddle
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skedaddle
- /skɪˈdædɫ̩/ UK, US
Rhymes with -ædəl
Where it comes from
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”), of North Germanic/Scandinavian origin, from Old Norse *skǫðull; akin to Old Norse skaði (“harm”). Possibly related to the Ancient Greek σκέδασις (skédasis, “scattering”), σκεδασμός (skedasmós, “dispersion”). Possibly related to scud or scat.
verb skedaddles · skedaddling · skedaddled
-
To move or run away quickly.
"Well," continued the youth, "lots of good-a-'nough men have thought they was going to do great things before the fight, but when the time come they skedaddled."
Similar: beat feet
- To spill; to scatter.
Similar: flee, get lost, hightail, kick rocks, make tracks, scat, skidoo, skitter, take off, vamoose, rush
noun skedaddles
- The act of running away; a scurrying off.
Thesaurus
Translations
Every language
verb move or run away quickly
| Español | largarse, irse, pirarse, pirárselas, barajustar, barajustarse |
|---|---|
| Português | dar no pé |
| Français | déguerpir |
| Deutsch | abhauen, türmen |
| Italiano | scappare |
| Русский | дра́пать drápatʹ, улепётывать ulepjótyvatʹ, удира́ть udirátʹ, удра́ть udrátʹ, сма́тываться smátyvatʹsja, смота́ться smotátʹsja |
Talk about this word "skedaddle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/skedaddle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. skedaddle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/skedaddle "skedaddle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/skedaddle.Cite this
@misc{skedaddle_2026,
title = {skedaddle},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/skedaddle},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
