Dictionary Definition

abscond v : run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along [syn: bolt, absquatulate, decamp, run off, go off]

User Contributed Dictionary

From the Latin abscondere (to hide), formed from abs-, ab-, + condere (to lay up), from con- + dere (to put).

To hide; to withdraw; to be concealed :
- The rabbit absconds to avoid detection from predators
To depart secretly; to steal away, particularly to avoid arrest or prosecution :
- That very homesickness which, in regular armies, drives so many recruits to abscond. - Macaulay
To withdraw from, to leave from; to hide from :
- She absconded the feast.
- The captain absconded his responsibility.
To hide [something], to conceal [something]; to take away [something] :
- “They try to abscond his wages [...]” — National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation Inc, 15 February 2005 news release http://nrtw.org/b/nr_379.php.

to hide

to depart secretely

to withdraw from

abandon, absquatulate, beat a retreat, bolt, bow out, break, bunk, clear out, cut and run, decamp, depart, desert, disappear, elope, evacuate, flee, fly, fugitate, go, go AWOL, jump, jump bail, leave, levant, make off, quit, remove, retire, retreat, run, run away, run away from, run away with, run for it, run off, scape, show the heels, skedaddle, skip, skip out, slip the cable, take French leave, take flight, take to flight, take wing, turn tail, vacate, vanish, withdraw