bugging out

verb

present participle of bug out
1
as in retreating
to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening the ground soldiers bugged out just before the start of the aerial bombing

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in departing
to leave a place often for another the strange visitor bugged out without so much as saying a word

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bugging out There’s a wonderful small moment midway through the season where Reilly’s lightly bugging out in his dingy apartment, shaking out his limbs at sharp, insectile angles to get comfortable. — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 26 May 2026 Her baby's father answered the door with his eyes bugging out, and Frierson barged in to find two other guys, needles, spoons and powder on the table. — Brad Schmitt, The Tennessean, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bugging out
  1. retreating
  2. departing
  3. fleeing
  4. exiting
  5. flying
  6. moving
  7. bolting
  8. running along
Verb
  • Gabriel Moreno hit an RBI single in the fourth and, after Kyle Hart walked the bases loaded in the sixth, Perdomo cleared them with a double that bounced off the glove of retreating center fielder Jackson Merrill and then off the padded fence.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 26 Sep. 2026
  • The brand has been retreating by the month back to its roots in Florida.
    — Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of retreating
Verb
  • Warner Bros Motion Picture chiefs De Luca and Pamela Abdy are departing.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Investigators have located the wreckage of a medical transport helicopter that crashed in the Pacific Ocean after departing Wednesday night from Santa Catalina Island, killing a pilot and a nurse.
    — Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of departing
Verb
  • In 2009, two Israeli tank shells exploded immediately outside Al-Fakhoora, which was crowded with families fleeing an Israeli ground offensive.
    — Mosab Abu Toha, New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2026
  • As expected, the animals became anxious, either fleeing the threatening odor or freezing in place.
    — Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of fleeing
Verb
  • More importantly, according to several insiders, in the midst of a shakeout that is seeing executives stay or exiting, DC heads James Gunn and Peter Safran are staying put.
    — Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 2 Oct. 2026
  • At the end of all that immersiveness, exiting out onto the physical street to join the crowds of shuffling tourists and fend off sullen Elmos makes Times Square feel like the soul of authenticity.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of exiting
Verb
  • Bombers flying from South Dakota to targets in Iran would cost more in fuel and flying time than those taking off from England's Cotswolds region, which is 3,900 miles closer to Tehran.
    — Steve Hendrix, Arkansas Online, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Experts who study bats say that, although residents should practice caution, the odds of getting rabies from the flying creatures remain very low.
    — Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of flying
Verb
  • While Spencer Jones is still a work in progress defensively in center, Grisham certainly shouldn’t be patrolling the position for the Yankees moving forward.
    — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 9 Oct. 2026
  • There were Penn parents, too, likely moving their kids into college that weekend.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of moving
Verb
  • Dyson built the CameraJet around 16 million lines of code and a model trained on 470,000 dental images, bolting a camera, pump, fluid system and software onto a device people have historically cleaned with nylon bristles.
    — Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Now every SaaS company that spent the last three years bolting AI features onto legacy infrastructure just got very expensive news.
    — Rafael Flores, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of bolting
Verb
  • There are also chines running along the fuselage, which provide better aerodynamics, with lift being particularly improved for carrier operations.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 4 Oct. 2026
  • The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad operates between Durango and Silverton, traversing the San Juan National Forest and running along the Animas River.
    — Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of running along

Browse Nearby Words

bugging off
bugging out
buggy
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Cite this Entry

“Bugging out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bugging%20out. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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