English
Idiom
take a powder
#To leave in a hurry.
#*1971, Louis-Ferdinand D. Celine, Death on the Installment Plan, p. 446:
#*:Our idea was that once the storm had subsided we'd take a powder one night with our dough. . . We'd take our stuff and give ourselves a change of air. . . move to a different neighborhood.
#*1979, Dan McCall?, Beecher: A Novel, p. 162:
#*:"Mr. Tilton said you told him you would take a powder." "Take a powder?" said Henry. "I once heard a man from Nevada tell me he would take a powder, meaning he was leaving town."
#*2000, Barbara Weltman, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting a Home-Based Business, p. 271:
#*:But when you suffer losses, Uncle Sam may take a powder.
#*2004, Robert Hough, Hogie Wyckoff, The Final Confession of Mabel Stark, p. 418:
#*:Go on, now. Scram. Take a powder. And don't come back till people on the street start wishing you a good afternoon.
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