Dictionary

take a powder en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (US, colloquial, idiomatic) To leave without saying goodbye; to leave quietly, to run away; to scram; to depart without taking leave or notifying anyone, often with the implication of avoiding something unpleasant or shirking responsibility.
   • In the following game, hypermodernist Gruenfeld (Black) voluntarily suhmits to having a backward Queen Pawn-all part and parcel of the grand plan for the variation chosen. In the early sequence, however, he takes a powder. Thanks to the effort of his countryman, Galia, it explodes in his face. 1954 July, “Solitaire Chess”, in Chess Review:
   • But when you suffer losses, Uncle Sam may take a powder. 2000, Barbara Weltman, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting a Home-Based Business, page 271:
   • Our idea was that once the storm had subsided we'd take a powder one night with our dough. . . We'd take our stuff and give ourselves a change of air. . . move to a different neighborhood. 1971, Louis-Ferdinand D. Celine, Death on the Installment Plan, page 446:
   • "Mr. Tilton said you told him you would take a powder." "Take a powder?" said Henry. "I once heard a man from Nevada tell me he would take a powder, meaning he was leaving town." 1979, Dan McCall, Beecher: A Novel, page 162:
   • Go on, now. Scram. Take a powder. And don't come back till people on the street start wishing you a good afternoon. 2004, Robert Hough, Hogie Wyckoff, The Final Confession of Mabel Stark, page 418:
   • Macdonald spoke slowly, bitterly. "The kidnapping is one too many for me, Costello. I don't want any part of it. I'm takin' a powder from this toy mob. I took a chance that bright boy might side me." 1933, Raymond Chandler, “Blackmailers Don't Shoot”, in Collected Stories, Everyman's Library, published 2002, page 20:
   • First Mrs Hitchcock packed up and took a powder, and there was hell to pay. 1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “They Found the Body in a Ditch”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 2 (1923–1928: Chicago, Chicago), page 66:
   • I even talked to Charlie. When [his brother] Daniel took the powder, I called up Charlie on the phone. I thought maybe he'd want to do the right thing by me. You know, sometimes brothers feel responsible for each other. 1969 October 15, Bert Prelutsky, “Burglary - Mister”, in Dragnet, spoken by Chester Albertson:

Forms

Relateds

take to the hills

Synonyms

take a walkout powder

Translations (11)

ru сбежа́ть (to run away) · es dar la espantada (to run away) · pl ulotnić się (to run away) · fr prendre la poudre d'escampette (to run away) · pl zmyć się (to run away) · ru дава́ть стрекача́ (to run away) · de sich aus dem Staub machen (to run away) · ru смота́ться (to run away) · ru скры́ться (to run away) · pl zmywać się (to run away) · pl ulatniać się (to run away)