Idiom
take a powder
Meaning
To leave without saying goodbye; to leave quietly, to run away; to scram; to depart without taking leave or notifying anyone, often with the implication of avoiding something unpleasant or shirking responsibility.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The party was boring, so he decided to take a powder.”
“When the boss started asking difficult questions about the missing money, the manager took a powder and left the building.”
“Rather than face the consequences of his failed project, he chose to take a powder, leaving his colleagues to explain the situation to the board.”
Examples
simple
“The party was boring, so he decided to take a powder.”
contextual
“When the boss started asking difficult questions about the missing money, the manager took a powder and left the building.”
complex
“Rather than face the consequences of his failed project, he chose to take a powder, leaving his colleagues to explain the situation to the board.”
Key words
Related idioms
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