sich aus dem Staub machen
to make oneself scarce; to slip away
Origin
Probably from war: in the dust kicked up by the fray a soldier could slip away unnoticed; similarly read for the ancient arena.
Building blocks
Words in this expression
Grammar that uses this word
- Simple past 'musste' (had to, from müssen)Präteritum 'musste' (müssen)
- Simple past 'wollte' (wanted to, from wollen)Präteritum 'wollte' (wollen)
- Simple past 'durfte' (was allowed to, from dürfen)Präteritum 'durfte' (dürfen)
- Simple past 'sollte' (was supposed to, from sollen)Präteritum 'sollte' (sollen)
Examples
Als die kam, hatte sich der aus dem .
By the time the police arrived, the thief had long since made himself scarce.