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take a powder

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take a powder

Sl. to leave; to leave town. (Underworld.) Why don't you take a powder? Go on! Beat it! Willie took a powder and will lie low for a while.

See also: powder, take

take a powder

  (American informal)

to leave a place suddenly, especially in order to avoid an unpleasant situation He saw the police coming and took a powder.

See keep powder dry

See also: powder, take

take a powder

Make a speedy departure, run away, as in I looked around and he was gone-he'd taken a powder. This slangy idiom may be derived from the British dialect sense of powder as "a sudden hurry," a usage dating from about 1600. It may also allude to the explosive quality of gunpowder.

See also: powder, take

take a powder

tv. to leave; to leave town. (Underworld.) Bruno took a powder and will lie low for a while.

See also: powder, take

take a powder

To make a quick departure; run away.

See also: powder, take