[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/skedaddle/)

[dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [S](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/s/) / skedaddle

# skedaddle

verb (skedaddle, skedaddles, skedaddled, skedaddling)

«skedaddle» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (informal, playful) To skedaddle is to run away quickly, often because you are frightened or caught. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skedaddle/#m1)
2. (informal) To leave a place in a hurry. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skedaddle/#m2)

### In the lessons

A funny, lively word used in stories and in family talk: «Now skedaddle, all of you!» It tells the reader the escape is fast and a little comic. It came into English in the USA in the 1860s and is used in the UK, Australia and elsewhere too.

### Examples

- When the farmer shouted, the boys skedaddled over the fence. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skedaddle/#x1)
- «Skedaddle! Your dinner's getting cold,» said Mum. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skedaddle/#x2)
- The mice skedaddled when the cat came in. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skedaddle/#x3)
- We'd better skedaddle before the rain starts. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skedaddle/#x4)
- The weasels skedaddled when Badger burst into the hall. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skedaddle/#x5)
- The thief skedaddled with the cake. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skedaddle/#x6)

### Note

Regular verb: skedaddled, skedaddling. Informal; not for formal essays — there use «flee» or «run away». Spelling: double d.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «skedaddle» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/skedaddle/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«skedaddle» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/skedaddle.html) on Mova free.