abscond

Definition of abscond

Etymology

From the Latin abscondere ("to hide"), formed from abs-, ab-, + condere ("to lay up"), from con- + dere ("to put").
Cognate to sconce ("a type of light fixture").

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /əbˈsk�'nd/, SAMPA: /@b"skQnd/
• (US) enPR: ăb-skŏnd', SAMPA: /@b"skQnd/
• Rhymes: -�'nd

Verb

to abscond (third-person singular simple present absconds, present participle absconding, simple past and past participle absconded)

1. (intransitive) To hide; to withdraw; to be concealed:
   
   The rabbit absconds to avoid detection from predators
   
   
2. (intransitive) To depart secretly; to steal away, particularly to avoid arrest or prosecution :
   
   1848: Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England, Ch. 13
   ... that very homesickness which, in regular armies, drives so many recruits to abscond at the risk of stripes and of death.
   
   1911: Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
   Spring beckons! All things to the call respond;
   The trees are leaving and cashiers abscond.
   
   
3. (intransitive) To withdraw from, to leave from; to hide from :
   
   She absconded the feast.
   The captain absconded his responsibility.
   
   
4. (transitive) (obsolete) To hide [something], to conceal [something]; to take away [something] :
   
   "They try to abscond his wages [...]" - National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation Inc, 15 February 2005 news release [1].