1
as in retreating
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 departing
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
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Recent Examples of bugging out
Her baby's father answered the door with his eyes bugging out, and Frierson barged in to find two other guys, needles, spoons and powder on the table.
—
Brad Schmitt, The Tennessean, 21 Aug. 2025
Brad Schmitt, The Tennessean, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bugging out
Verb
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Glaciers all over the world -- especially in Antarctica -- are also retreating at a rapid pace, recent research shows.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 Apr. 2026
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The alarmed father then began retreating while shouting for their daughter to drive away.—
Bonny Chu,
FOXNews.com,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Trump vowed to maintain a blockade of Iranian ports if Tehran refused to reach a deal; the effort has so far turned back 27 ships bound for or departing Iranian ports.—
Natasha Bracken,
semafor.com,
21 Apr. 2026
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In May, a new fiberoptic cable went online between Philadelphia and New York to improve telecommunications at the air traffic control facility that handles flights arriving and departing Newark Liberty International Airport, after a series of outages last year led to major delays.—
Alexandra Skores,
CNN Money,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
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His attackers were last seen fleeing in white KIA SUV.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
21 Apr. 2026
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Officers involved in the chase reported that the children taken from the Harrison Street residence may be inside the fleeing vehicle.—
Bill Hutchinson,
ABC News,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Across the continent, investors have long cited restrictive or opaque capital control regimes as a deterrent to large-scale commitment, particularly when repatriating profits or exiting investments is uncertain.—
Tiisetso Motsoeneng,
semafor.com,
20 Apr. 2026
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Rosenqvist’s three-second lead was erased when debris on the track exiting the Aquarium Fountain drew the only yellow flag all afternoon and narrowed the gap.—
Steve Galluzzo,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Having conceded twice in a losing effort last weekend at Portland for their first blemish of the year, LAFC met up with an Earthquakes (7-1-0, 21 points) team that was flying high under sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena.—
Josh Gross,
Daily News,
20 Apr. 2026
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The Bruins teammates didn’t pack any of their belongings before flying to New York to attend the draft, but after another cross-country flight home to Los Angeles, the pair had barely 24 hours to put their entire lives in boxes before heading back to the East Coast to join the Connecticut Sun.—
Emily Adams,
Hartford Courant,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The tactics are commonly associated with South American theft groups known for operating across state lines and moving quickly from one community to another.—
Abby Dodge,
CBS News,
18 Apr. 2026
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By the end, the movie takes on the hallucinatory feel of an existential horror film, less about where anyone is going than what keeps them moving at all.—
Yvonne Villarreal,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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While staff were momentarily stunned by the sheer volume of the steal, the suspect took advantage of the distraction, untangling himself from the struggle and bolting for the exit before police could arrive.—
Khloe Quill,
FOXNews.com,
15 Apr. 2026
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Mancini coached Italy to the European Championship title in 2021 then failed to get the Azzurri to the next year’s World Cup before bolting to take over Saudi Arabia’s national team.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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After that, they’re called thornbacks, a thornback being a bottom-feeding skatelike fish with sharp spikes running along its spine.—
David Sedaris,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
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In 2024, experts from the Gulf Coast Canine Project voiced concerns to the state transportation agency about ghost wolf mortality rates along FM 3005, the main road running along the coast, especially as development grows on Galveston Island.—
Ashley Soebroto,
Houston Chronicle,
4 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bugging out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bugging%20out. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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