Words / C2

uhb-SKOND/əbˈskɒnd/

To abscond is to leave hurriedly and secretly, typically to avoid arrest or a duty: abscond with the file, abscond from the sitting. To leave (already in the dictionary) is everyday going away; to flee and to escape (already in the dictionary) are running from danger, and getting away. To vanish (already in the dictionary) is to disappear suddenly; to hide (already in the dictionary) is to keep out of sight, and a secret (already in the dictionary) is something you do not tell. This batch: to abnegate is to renounce a right, of a formal giving-up not of flight; to defenestrate is to throw someone out. Tidying a raw file is not licence to drop the n.

Meaning

To leave hurriedly and secretly, typically to avoid arrest or a duty.

Examples

• “Do not abscond from the sitting with the raw file; keep the n.”
• “To leave is to go away (already in A2). To flee is to run from danger (already in B1). To escape is to get away (already in B1). To vanish is to disappear suddenly (already in B2). To hide is to keep out of sight (already in A2). To abnegate is to renounce a right (this batch). To defenestrate is to throw out of a window (this batch). A dated archive can still be short. A wipe that never keeps the cell is a hole. Keep the number; then the adjectives.”

Good to know

Flee in secret (from duty or arrest). Everyday: leave / hide (already in this dictionary). Close: flee / escape (already in B1); vanish (already in B2). This batch: abnegate; defenestrate. Flight ≠ deleting an n.

Near in meaning

flee, decamp, bolt, run off

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