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Webster 1913 Edition

Absquatulate

Ab-squat′u-late

,
Verb.
I.
To take one’s self off; to decamp.
[A jocular word. U. S.]

Definition 2024

absquatulate

absquatulate

English

Verb

absquatulate ‎(third-person singular simple present absquatulates, present participle absquatulating, simple past and past participle absquatulated)

  1. (intransitive, slang) To leave quickly or in a hurry; to take oneself off; to decamp; to depart, flee. [from 19th c.][3]
  2. (intransitive, slang) to abscond.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

  • Appendix:Fanciful 19th century American coinages

References

  1. 1 2 “Absquatulate”, World Wide Words, Michael Quinion, 3 Aug. 2002.
  2. ↑ New Orleans Weekly Picayune, December 1839
  3. ↑ Lesley Brown (editor), The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2003 [1933], ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7), page 9

Etymology

Attested since the 1830s in American English, a jocular mock-Latin word.[1] Blend of abscond +‎ squat +‎ perambulate, as ab- ‎(“away (from)”) (as in abscond) + squat + *-ulate (as in perambulate, properly -ate), hence meaning “get up (from a squat) and depart (quickly)”.[1][2] The middle portion was perhaps influenced by -le ‎(“(frequentative)”) and the dialectal term squattle ‎(“depart”); compare contemporary skedaddle.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /æb.ˈskwɑtʃ.ʊ.leɪt/, /æbz.ˈkwɑtʃ.ʊ.leɪt/, /æbz.ˈkwɑtʃ.ə.leɪt/

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