take a powder | Idiomator

Meaning: (idiomatic,US,colloquial)To leave without saying goodbye; to leave quietly, torun away; toscram; todepartwithouttaking leaveornotifyinganyone, often with theimplicationofavoidingsomethingunpleasantorshirkingresponsibility.Synonym:take a walkout powder1933, Raymond Chandler, “Blackmailers Don't Shoot”, inCollected Stories, Everyman's Library, published2002, page20:Macdonald spoke slowly, bitterly. "The kidnapping is one too many for me, Costello. I don't want any part of it. I'mtakin' a powderfrom this toy mob. I took a chance that bright boy might side me."1946,Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow,Bernard Wolfe, “They Found the Body in a Ditch”, inReally the Blues, New York, N.Y.:Random House, book 2 (1923–1928: Chicago, Chicago),page66:First Mrs Hitchcock packed up andtook a powder, and there was hell to pay.1971, Louis-Ferdinand D. Celine,Death on the Installment Plan, page446:Our idea was that once the storm had subsided we'dtake a powderone night with our dough. . . We'd take our stuff and give ourselves a change of air. . . move to a different neighborhood.1979, Dan McCall,Beecher: A Novel, page162:"Mr. Tilton said you told him you wouldtake a powder." "Take a powder?" said Henry. "I once heard a man from Nevada tell me he wouldtake a powder, meaning he was leaving town."2000, Barbara Weltman,The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting a Home-Based Business, page271:But when you suffer losses, Uncle Sam maytake a powder.2004, Robert Hough, Hogie Wyckoff,The Final Confession of Mabel Stark, page418:Go on, now. Scram.Take a powder. And don't come back till people on the street start wishing you a good afternoon.

Examples:

EN: I mean vamoose, take a powder, be gone.
ES: ♪ Quiero decir largarse, esfumarse, desaparecer ♪
EN: Say, maybe we all better take a powder out of town.
ES: Tal vez deberíamos abandonar la ciudad.
EN: Come on, Jamesy, let's you and me take a powder.
ES: Vamos, Jamesy, volémonos.
EN: He take a powder on you, too?
ES: ¿También te ha abandonado?
EN: Trying to take a powder on me, eh?
ES: Intentando escapar, ¿eh?
EN: I'm gonna take a powder.
ES: Me largo.
EN: You other guys take a powder.
ES: El resto, váyase.
EN: You just take a powder and kindly omit flowers.
ES: Simplemente desaparece sin dejar flores en mi tumba.
EN: You take a powder out of this joint tonight, round up a mob, and meet me Saturday night at the crest hotel over on Fulton street.
ES: Escápate de aquí esta noche. Reúne a los chicos y nos encontraremos en el Hotel Crest el sábado.
EN: Now I want to take a powder, see, but I can't because they're in trouble, and I don't want to leave them that way, understand?
ES: Me quiero ir pero no puedo porque tienen problemas, y no puedo dejarles así.
EN: He's liable to take a powder. I don't want this unit to break up.
ES: No quiero que se rompa la banda.
EN: If we can make Woody believe that Kitty isn't like he thinks she is He might take a powder.
ES: Hagamos creer a Woody que Kitty no es como él cree.
EN: Let's take a powder.
ES: Salgamos pitando.
EN: But it looked to me like you were getting ready to take a powder on me.
ES: Yo me estaba poniendo frenético.
EN: Maybe things got so hot for the old man, he had to take a powder?
ES: ¿No es extraño que su padre no estuviera?

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