scarper

verb

scar·​per ˈskär-pər 

scarpered; scarpering; scarpers

intransitive verb

British

: flee, run away

broadly : leave, depart

Synonyms

• bail
• bail out
• begone
• book [slang]
• bug off
• bug out
• bugger off [British slang]
• buzz (off)
• clear off [chiefly British]
• clear out
• cut out
• depart
• dig out
• exit
• get
• get off
• go
• go off
• move
• pack (up or off)
• part
• peel off
• pike (out or off)
• pull out
• push off
• push on
• quit
• run along
• sally (forth)
• shove (off)
• step (along)
• take off
• vamoose
• walk out

Examples of scarper in a Sentence

I went looking for Sally at the pub, but she'd scarpered.

Recent Examples on the Web

Taylor Tomlinson will host After Midnight, the show that is replacing The Late Late Show now that James Corden has scarpered off to old Blighty. —Vulture, 1 Nov. 2023

Idrissa Gueye has scarpered, but that void was instantly filled by Mainz midfielder Jean-Philippe Gbamin - while Moise Kean, goodness knows how, has signed from Juventus to sharpen things up front. —SI.com, 5 Aug. 2019

Ms Collett compares it to the muggy period before a thunderstorm, when the squirrels have scarpered and the air is pregnant with foreboding of trouble ahead. —The Economist, 21 June 2018

Word History

Etymology

probably ultimately from Italian scappare, from Vulgar Latin *excappare — more at escape

First Known Use

circa 1846, in the meaning defined above