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bugging out

verb

present participle of bug out
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

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.
Recent Examples of bugging out There’s a wonderful small moment midway through the season where Reilly’s lightly bugging out in his dingy apartment, shaking out his limbs at sharp, insectile angles to get comfortable. — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 26 May 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bugging out
  1. retreating
  2. departing
  3. fleeing
  4. exiting
  5. flying
  6. moving
  7. bolting
  8. running along
Verb
  • The Jakobshavn glacier in Greenland is now retreating up to 164 feet (50 meters) a day, Otosaka said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The Jakobshavn glacier in Greenland is now retreating up to 164 feet a day, Otosaka said.
    — Seth Borenstein, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of retreating
Verb
  • Donald Tusk, Poland's prime minister, warned on Thursday before departing for Ukraine that Moscow is planning hybrid strikes with drones or rockets on European countries supporting Kyiv, among them Poland.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, warned on Thursday before departing for Ukraine that Moscow is planning hybrid strikes with drones or rockets on European countries supporting Kyiv, among them Poland.
    — Samya Kullab, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of departing
Verb
  • The painting belonged to Jacques Goudstikker, a Jewish art dealer who was fleeing the Netherlands for England on a ship in 1940 during World War II.
    — Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 23 Sep. 2026
  • This type of maritime migration is different from the once-common arrivals of rafts and other homemade vessels that Cubans are known to use to escape their homeland, and the overloaded freighters and sailboats used by people fleeing Haiti.
    — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of fleeing
Verb
  • Sally Habbershaw is exiting Mediawan after less than a year to become President of Global Distribution at the BBC’s commercial arm.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Sharon Levy is exiting Banijay’s Endemol Shine North America after nearly a decade at the company — including most recently as CEO.
    — Michael Schneider, Variety, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of exiting
Verb
  • Or two weeks ago, flying to Frieze Seoul, 37 hours there and back, after a trip to the East Coast and Europe that was another 42.
    — Lane Brown, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Nearly $2 billion from venture capital investors has underpinned Zipline’s global business that has grown from flying medical supplies to food delivery for Uber.
    — Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of flying
Verb
  • Bank of America, Citigroup and Apollo underwrote the buyout debt package, one of the biggest ever and with many moving pieces, to fund the takeover.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 24 Sep. 2026
  • This is just one season, but Guerrero’s outlook needs to change just as much as his production moving forward on the remaining 13 years of his deal.
    — Scott Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of moving
Verb
  • Now every SaaS company that spent the last three years bolting AI features onto legacy infrastructure just got very expensive news.
    — Rafael Flores, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2026
  • San Francisco is still bolting new pieces together, including fitting Mike Evans into the offense on the fly.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of bolting
Verb
  • Warm water running over, the feel of the grains between my hands, the sound of it like stones running along the pavement.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026
  • That money paid for the brick promenade now running along the Choptank River.
    — Josh Davis, Baltimore Sun, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of running along

Browse Nearby Words

bugging off
bugging out
buggy
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Cite this Entry

“Bugging out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bugging%20out. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

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