fly the coop

verb

Etymology

From fly, to flee or run away, + coop, an enclosure for birds.

Definitions

  1. To depart hastily or unannounced

    To depart hastily or unannounced; to escape or flee.

    • Not liking the accommodations, I took the first chance and flew the coop.
    • By the time the disk was out, most of Smith had apparently flown the coop; only Gayle and Jerry remained
    • I think even Ruth looked over there when she was thinking about flying the coop.
  2. To escape from a pen or similar enclosure.

    • Explained a Curtiz assistant: "We had three ravens in Assisi; one died of cold, and another flew the coop."

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

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sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA