abscond

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 5, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>abscond</strong> &#149; \ab-SKAHND\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p>To abscond is to leave, flee, or escape a place in secret and go into hiding. Often, someone is said to have <em>absconded with</em> something. </p> <p>// The suspect <em>absconded</em> to Canada before investigators could reach her at home.</p> <p>// He became concerned that one of his co-conspirators would <em>abscond</em> with the money.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abscond">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“Squirrels snarf hard taco shells, and <em>abscond</em> with Nutella jars; subway rats chow down on pizza, while seagulls have ripped fries and even a KFC wrap straight out of human mouths.” — Katherine J. Wu, <em>The Atlantic</em>, 21 Feb. 2023</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>In “Take the Money and Run,” a 1976 <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/earworm">earworm</a> by the Steve Miller Band, the singer punctuates a song about teenage bandits with the catchy refrain “Go on, take the money and run.” Granted, the song probably wouldn’t have charted had it been titled “Abscond,” but the meaning would have been the same. <em>Abscond</em> is a word most often used in formal writing for when someone is running and hiding from the law, often with cash or other ill-gotten gains. In legal circles it’s used specifically when someone flies like an eagle from a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jurisdiction">jurisdiction</a> to evade the legal process, as in “absconded from parole.” The history of <em>abscond</em> doesn’t evade scrutiny: it comes from the Latin verb <em>abscondere</em>, meaning “to hide away.” (That word’s root is <em>condere</em>, meaning “to conceal.”) Today, whether some joker abscond