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In “Take the Money and Run,” a 1976 earworm by the Steve Miller Band, the singer punctuates a song about teenage bandits with the catchy refrain “Go on, take the money and run.” Granted, the song probably wouldn’t have charted had it been titled “Abscond,” but the meaning would have been the same. Abscond is a word most often used in formal writing for when someone is running and hiding from the law, often with cash or other ill-gotten gains. In legal circles it’s used specifically when someone flies like an eagle from a jurisdiction to evade the legal process, as in “absconded from parole.” The history of abscond doesn’t evade scrutiny: it comes from the Latin verb abscondere, meaning “to hide away.” (That word’s root is condere, meaning “to conceal.”) Today, whether some joker absconds by going to the country to bury some treasure or by taking a jet airliner beyond the law’s reach, they are, in essence, hiding themselves away.
Examples of abscond in a Sentence
Lori Andrews, Chicago Tribune, 16 Jan. 2026
Huntersville police expressed disappointment and social media reaction was mixed after someone absconded with all the pet food and other supplies in a community pet pantry last week.
—Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 13 Jan. 2026
Three months later, another seven players from the senior national team absconded in the same country.
—Simon Hughes, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2026
Dressed as construction workers, the robbers smashed two display cases and absconded with eight pieces of jewelry belonging to Emperor Napoleon and his wife before fleeing on motorbikes.
—Mason Leath, ABC News, 27 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for abscond
Cite this Entry
“Abscond.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abscond. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
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Legal Definition
abscond
intransitive verb
