Antonyms for take a powder
Grammar : Verb |
Spell : pou-der |
Phonetic Transcription : ˈpaʊ dər |
- accept
- adopt
- advance
- aid
- allow
- appear
- arrive
- assert
- assist
- be born
- begin
- break
- capture
- cherish
- come
- come in
- confront
- continue
- create
- defend
- disagree
- do well
- encounter
- enter
- face
- favor
- go
- help
- hold
- keep
- maintain
- meet
- mismatch
- persevere
- pursue
- remain
- retain
- save
- stand
- start
- stay
- stop
- succeed
- support
- surrender
- take on
- uphold
- wait
- walk
Definition of take a powder
Origin :- c.1300, "ash, cinders; dust of the earth;" early 14c., "pulverized substance;" mid-14c., "medicinal powder;" late 14c. as "gunpowder," from Old French poudre "dust, powder; ashes; powdered substance" (13c.), earlier pouldre (11c.), from Latin pulverem (nominative pulvis) "dust" (see pollen). Specialized sense "gunpowder" is from late 14c. In the sense "powdered cosmetic," it is recorded from 1570s.
- In figurative sense, powder keg is first attested 1855. Powder room, euphemistic for "women's lavatory," is attested from 1936. Earlier it meant "place where gunpowder is stored on a warship" (1620s). Powder horn attested by 1530s. Powder puff first recorded 1704; as a symbol of femaleness or effeminacy, in use from at least 1930s.
- Phrase take a powder "scram, vanish," is from 1920; it was a common phrase as a doctor's instruction, so perhaps from the notion of taking a laxative medicine or a sleeping powder, with the result that one has to leave in a hurry (or, on another guess, from a magician's magical powder, which made things disappear). Powder blue (1650s) was smelt used in laundering; as a color name from 1894.
- As in blow : verb leave suddenly
- As in lam : verb escape
- As in abandon : verb leave behind, relinquish
- As in escape : verb break away from
- As in go : verb advance, proceed physically
Synonyms for take a powder
- abdicate
- abscond
- approach
- avoid
- back out
- bail out
- beat it
- blow
- bolt
- bow out
- break out
- bug out
- burst out
- chicken out
- circumvent
- cop out
- cruise
- cut and run
- cut loose
- decamp
- depart
- desert
- disappear
- discard
- discontinue
- ditch
- dodge
- double
- drop
- drop out
- duck
- duck out
- dump
- dust
- elope
- elude
- emerge
- escape
- evade
- exit
- fare
- flake out
- flee
- fly
- fly the coop
- get away
- get away with
- get going
- get lost
- get off
- give someone the slip
- give up the ship
- go
- go scot-free
- hie
- hightail
- hit the road
- journey
- kiss goodbye
- lam
- leave
- leg it
- let go
- light out
- make a break for it
- make a getaway
- make for
- make getaway
- make off
- make one's way
- make oneself scarce
- mosey
- move
- move out
- near
- opt out
- pass
- play hooky
- progress
- pull out
- push off
- push on
- quit
- repair
- retire
- run
- run along
- run away
- run off
- run out on
- screw
- set off
- ship out
- shove off
- shun
- skip
- skip out
- slip
- slip away
- split
- steal away
- stop
- storm out
- surrender
- take a hike
- take a powder
- take a walk
- take flight
- take it on the lam
- take leave
- take off
- take on the lam
- throw over
- travel
- vacate
- vamoose
- vanish
- walk out on
- wash hands of
- wend
- withdraw
- work out of
- wriggle out
- yield
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019