Vamoose

//væˈmus// verb, slang

verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To run away (from); to flee. ambitransitive, slang

    "Speaking of the room in which I locked McIndoe — I will preface by saying that Mac "vamoosed that ranch" that very day and left me alone."

  2. 2
    leave suddenly wordnet
  3. 3
    To hurry. intransitive, slang

    "Some members of civil rights organizations present said they have heard that Negroes seeking housing in the [sundown] towns had been intimidated and that 'vamoose' warnings have been in vogue for the past year."

Synonyms

All synonyms
decampabsquatulatebe offbeat itbegoneblow

Example

More examples

"Speaking of the room in which I locked McIndoe — I will preface by saying that Mac "vamoosed that ranch" that very day and left me alone."

Etymology

Alteration of Spanish vamos (“we go”) or vámonos (“let's go”). Doublet of namous.

Related phrases

run away

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.