abscotchalater

English

Etymology

From absquatulate +‎ -er. First use appears c. 1876.

Noun

abscotchalater (plural abscotchalaters)

1. (archaic, thieves' cant) Someone hiding from the police.
   • 2019 October 14, Paul Anthony Jones, The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities: A Yearbook of Forgotten Words, University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 163:

     On 11 June 1962, three absquatulating abscotchalaters – Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin – became perhaps the only inmates of Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco, California, ever to successfully escape the facility.

   • 2022 February 10, Dr. Kislay Panday, The Sovereign: Sprouts Of Good Governance, Prabhat Prakashan, →ISBN, page 252:

     Babir's life quickly began to bear a resemblance to that of an abscotchalater. However, by 1504, he managed to hegemonize the territories of Kabul and Ghazni, both in present-day Afghanistan. He then went on to recapture Samarkand in 1511.

Synonyms

• fugitive

References

• Albert Barrère and Charles G[odfrey] Leland, compilers and editors (1889–1890) “abscotchalater”, in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant […], volume I (A–K), Edinburgh: […] The Ballantyne Press, →OCLC, page 9.
• John S[tephen] Farmer, compiler (1890) “abscotchalater”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume I, [London: […] Thomas Poulter and Sons] […], →OCLC, page 12.
• “abscotchalater n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present