skedaddle

verb

ske·​dad·​dle ski-ˈda-dᵊl 

skedaddled; skedaddling ski-ˈda-dᵊl-iŋ 

-ˈdad-liŋ

; skedaddles

intransitive verb

: to leave immediately : run away, scram

I've got to skedaddle or I'll be late.

Whenever there was work to be done, he skedaddled.

… of the five hundred and sixteen thousand immigrants who had come to Quebec since 1969 some three hundred and twelve thousand took a good look around and skedaddled.

—Mordecai Richler

… Vietnam, a country that has been virtually closed to foreigners since the last American helicopter skedaddled from the embassy rooftop in 1975.

—Stephen O'Shea

especially : to flee in a panic

Little gray lizards skedaddle from our path.

—Wells Tower

Though penguins can't outrun a lion, they can skedaddle on land if they really need to.

—Diane Ackerman

… they took their money and skedaddled as the housing market collapsed.

—Bill Saporito

skedaddler

ski-ˈda-dᵊl-ər 

-ˈdad-lər

noun

plural skedaddlers

… soldiers running from their units—and civilians running to avoid becoming part of one—were dubbed skedaddlers.

—John Boyko

Synonyms

• bolt
• break
• bug out
• flee
• fly
• hightail (it)
• retreat
• run
• run away
• run off

Examples of skedaddle in a Sentence

I've got to skedaddle or I'll be late.

we skedaddled as soon as we saw the snake entering our campsite

Recent Examples on the Web

Among the five Lab rats are two bosses: onscreen personality Edna (Chloë Sevigny) and Dave (Simon Rex), her partner in business and life, who soon skedaddles back to the States to deal with some legal matters that everyone but Edna is aware of. —Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019

But not on this episode, because Abby and the gang were already skedaddling back to Seattle. —Tom Gliatto, People.com, 21 Apr. 2025

The Nazis took the bait, hook, line and sinker, and skedaddled to Sardinia, smoothing the way for the Allies to take Sicily, a major turning point in World War II. —Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 21 Mar. 2025

The Nazis took the bait, hook, line and sinker, and skedaddled to Sardinia, smoothing the way for the Allies to take Sicily and marking a major turning point in World War II. —Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 21 Mar. 2025

The sun's peeping out, and the budding journalists skedaddle outside, where their friends are just arriving. —Lauren Migaki, NPR, 22 Feb. 2025

The Confederates saw the score and promptly skedaddled. —Scott Spillman, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2025

Under the deal passed just as Congress skedaddled from Washington before the end of the year, the ceiling will be exceeded sometime between January 14 and January 23. —Peter Green, Quartz, 4 Jan. 2025

Mac and Cheese Bites Arancini walked so these balls of mac and cheese could skip and skedaddle and swerve into our hearts. —Alex Beggs, Bon Appétit, 12 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

probably alteration of British dialect scaddle to run off in a fright, from scaddle, adjective, wild, timid, skittish, from Middle English scathel, skadylle harmful, fierce, wild, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse skathi harm — more at scathe

First Known Use

1859, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for skedaddle

• paddle
• saddle
• straddle