Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <word-request>
Title: Expression for "running/getting out of somewhere really fast"
Question: I am looking for a word or expression to mean   running out of somewhere very fast  because of being terrified of something, or to avoid meeting someone.

Answers:
sents: text: Here's a handy single word: flee .
text: You may flee a place or a person or a threat.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/32/StoneyB on hiatus
score: 11
sents: text: Since you are looking also for an 'expression', I would suggest: like a bat out of hell if you go somewhere like a bat out of hell
text: , you go very fast
text: He ran out of the building like a bat out of hell .
text: (Ref. Cambridge Idioms Dictionary, 2nd ed.
text: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006.)
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/None/
score: 8
sents: text: It always sounds a bit "slangy" to me, but a nice word for OP's context is... skedaddle - to depart quickly or hurriedly; run away . ...
text: another one I like (esp.
text: US usage, also somewhat informal, as are most apart from flee ) is... high-tail it out of here deriving from the raised tails of fleeing animals (as deer or rabbits) .
text: Similar terms include scarper, leg it, beat it, clear off .
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/126/FumbleFingers Reinstate Monica
score: 6
sents: text: In Northern English (e.g. Manchester, Liverpool), this phrase is quite common When those guys showed up, we legged it .
text: In US informal English there's also "skedaddle": When those guys showed up, we skedaddled outta there!
text: Perhaps more commonly you can always use an intensifier to impress upon the listener that you got out of there quickly:
text: When those guys showed up, we got the hell outta there!
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/307/Matt
score: 6
sents: text: You could use the verb bolt .
text: NOAD defines it like this:
text: As a side note, in recent years, this option has been a very handy word for sports headlines .
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/113/J.R.
score: 5
sents: text: (American) slang includes bail , scram , and vamoose .
text: Variations on get the hell outta there include get out of Dodge and get the hell out of Dodge .
text: Rats leaving a sinking ship is maybe not exactly what you are looking for.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/357/Scott
score: 1
sents: text: "Skip out" can be used in the said contexts as in John was arrested July 22 after he skipped out on a $300 bill earlier at a local bar and ran away.
text: Macmillan dictionary defines it as a phrasal verb which means to leave a place quickly, usually because you do not want to be noticed or want to avoid paying money
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/92/Mohit
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
Skedaddle, bolt, bail, scram, vamoose, flee, get out of dodge, scarper, leg it, beat it and clear off all convey the intended meaning. Going somewhere "like a bat out of hell" also has the same message. One may also "skip out" on a bill.
Scarper, beat it, leg it, skip out and get out of dodge/like a bat out of hell can be used. You can also use skedaddle, bolt, bail, scram, vamoose and flee.