abscond Hear it!

abscond Definition

ab·scond (ab skänd′, əb-)

intransitive verb

to go away hastily and secretly; run away and hide, esp. in order to escape the law

Etymology: L abscondere < ab(s)-, from, away + condere, to hide: see recondite

abscond Related Forms

ab·scond′er noun

abscond Synonyms

abscond

v.

flee, steal off, slip away; see escape.

abscond Law Definition

v

  1. To secretly or suddenly leave a place or to go into hiding, especially to avoid arrest, prosecution, the service of a summons or other legal process, or an action by a creditor.
  2. To leave a location, often in a hurry, with money or property of another.

abscond Usage Examples

Object

  • tenant: Absconding tenant A flat I let has been fully managed by an estate agent for nearly a year.
  • prisoner: He said, " I think that, given the level of absconding prisoners, it's very hard to justify.

Preposition: during

trial: Trials can also be aborted if an accused on bail fails to appear or absconds during the trial.

Modifying Another Word

  • then: The two male occupants of the car then absconded from the vehicle with officers giving chase.
  • not: The Treasurer was a member whose legs were burned, this ensured he could not abscond with the funds!
  • lately: Bickerstaffe ] , who lately absconded for a detestable crime, it is asserted, has drowned himself.
  • since: The girl's uncle came to arrange the burial of her mother, but has since absconded with all their property.
  • again: The Ombudsman concluded that there were a number of contributory factors, which made it possible for Mrs D to abscond again.
  • now: In the surrounding 4 streets there were another 7 families, all but 1 of which have now absconded.

Infinitive complement

avoid: Their landlady assumed that they had absconded to avoid paying their bill.

Present participle complement

follow: His tenure was fairly short: in November 1861 he absconded following which the Watch Committee undertook an investigation into the police accounts.

Preposition: from

prison: To put this into context there were no absconds from other open prisons by foreign national prisoners during the same period.

Preposition: with

  • fund: The Treasurer was a member whose legs were burned, this ensured he could not abscond with the funds!
  • taking: Someone absconded with the takings from a gig in 1984.