Absquatulate
[ab-SKWACH-ə-late]
Part of speech: verb
Origin: American English, 1830s
1.
To flee
2.
To take off with somebody or something
Examples of Absquatulate in a sentence
"When the back porch light turned on, the sneaky raccoons absquatulated."
"Keep an eye out on the train for pickpockets trying to absquatulate with your wallet."
About Absquatulate
This verb is a pure Americanism. The slang term was created in the 1800s as a combination of "abscond," "squat," and "perambulate." When you break it down, you'll see that someone is picking up and running away quickly with their loot.
Did you Know?
Many English words are inspired by Latin, but Americans also love to make up their own concoctions. A trend in the 1800s involving creating classical-sounding words inspired "absquatulate," but also the verbs "bloviate" (to speak long-windedly and pompously) and "discombobulate" (to confuse).
