phrasal verb

• 1North American informal (of the eyes) open wide or bulge outward.

  More example sentences

  • ‘he did a double take and his eyes bugged out’

• 2North American informal Think or behave in an irrational or erratic way; panic or become hysterical.

  More example sentences

  • ‘I knew they had my phone and I was bugging out’

  1. 2.1bug someone out, bug out someoneDisturb, unsettle, or annoy someone.
     More example sentences

     • ‘they changed the color just a little bit and it's bugging me out’

• 3North American informal Leave quickly.

  More example sentences

  • ‘if you see enemy troops, bug out’
  • ‘Once there, he claimed purple hearts for every scratch, and bugged out as quickly as humanly possible.’
  • ‘Clearly, there's a whole lot going on inside the museum, but perhaps it's best that some doors stay closed: watching some of the action might just cause people to bug out.’
  • ‘It was only motherly intervention that convinced her to bug out.’
  • ‘But bugging out before next year's election could leave the administration facing even tougher decisions a little further down the road.’
  • ‘But I simply do not see any option whatever for bugging out, hiving off and starting something else.’
  • ‘He bugged out for an entire year of his duty - desertion in wartime, a capital offense, if you're not rich and well-connected.’

  Synonyms

  abscond, make off, run off, run away, flee, bolt, take off, take flight, disappear, vanish, slip away, steal away, sneak away, beat a hasty retreat, escape, make a run for it, make one's getaway, leave, depart, make oneself scarce