bug out

verb

Definition of bug outnext
1
as in to retreat
to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening the ground soldiers bugged out just before the start of the aerial bombing

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to depart
to leave a place often for another the strange visitor bugged out without so much as saying a word

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bug out
  1. retreat
  2. depart
  3. flee
  4. exit
  5. fly
  6. move
  7. bolt
  8. get
Verb
  • The arrival of fall is no reason to retreat into the usual browns, grays, and blacks—a pop of color has long been a transeasonal Jennifer Lawrence signature.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Even when lawmakers go through with regulations, industry pushback can force retreat.
    — Bob Herman, STAT, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of retreat
Verb
  • The National Gallery Singapore’s chief curator Patrick Flores and assistant chief executiveChris Lee, are the latest to depart the institution in December amid a staff shake-up.
    — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 26 Oct. 2026
  • And, yes, this rendition represented a lyrical alteration by the Tonji that departed from the traditional wording of the French national anthem.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of depart
Verb
  • Jaros and Rauh calculate that the state will lose money so long as 24 percent of the tax base flees, a condition that’s already been met.
    — Ramesh Ponnuru, Washington Post, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Some senators fled while others braced themselves inside the Senate chamber as Officer Eugene Goodman tried to reason with the mob, and Senate staffers barricaded themselves in offices, hiding.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of flee
Verb
  • Shortly after, a heavyset man wearing gray sweats, white socks and black sandals and a black hooded sweatershirt exits the passenger-side door.
    — Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Saquon Barkley missed the previous two games because of a hamstring injury before exiting Monday's loss after just nine snaps with a back injury.
    — Ryan Canfield OutKick, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of exit
Verb
  • Multiple flying insects throughout entire food service space.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Matthew Golden and Christian Watson can fly, and playing indoors gives them a chance to show it.
    — Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of fly
Verb
  • Those offseason moves, combined with the injuries, have withered the depth that had allowed Presti to be patient in trade negotiations during previous seasons, without feeling a need to make splashy midseason acquisitions.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 29 Oct. 2026
  • But Florida has decisively moved beyond an educational system dominated by a single operator — the school district — and toward a new construct where multiple operators provide choices for families.
    — Thibaut Delloue, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of move
Verb
  • The companies that capture that value will redesign work around their most creative people, rather than bolting AI onto old processes and counting the empty chairs.
    — Jay Kaplan, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Jim Zellers, a pioneer of big-mountain snowboarding and a friend of Morrison’s for almost four decades, had for several years been bolting new routes on this face, refining and naming and grading.
    — Nick Paumgarten, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of bolt
Verb
  • In fact, there is growing concern the current drought will only get worse.
    — Ava Berger, NPR, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Mbow Dem got the ball near the right corner of the box, shook Miami right back Gonzalo Lujan before taking a few dribbles to his left and rifling a shot into the left corner of the goal.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of get
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

bug off
bug out
bugs
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Cite this Entry

“Bug out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bug%20out. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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