fly the coop

English

Etymology

From fly, to flee or run away, + coop, an enclosure for birds.

Verb

fly the coop (third-person singular simple present flies the coop, present participle flying the coop, simple past flew the coop, past participle flown the coop)

1. (idiomatic) To depart hastily or unannounced; to escape or flee.
   • 1910, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 3, in A Texas Ranger:

     Not liking the accommodations, I took the first chance and flew the coop.

   • 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 243:

     By the time the disk was out, most of Smith had apparently flown the coop; only Gayle and Jerry remained

2. (of a bird) To escape from a pen or similar enclosure.
   • 1961 January 6, “Assisi Revisited”, in Time:

     Explained a Curtiz assistant: "We had three ravens in Assisi; one died of cold, and another flew the coop."

Usage notes

• Usually used in the simple past form.

Translations

to depart hastily or flee

• German: die Fliege machen (de) (idiom)

the escape of a bird from an enclosure

• German: entfliegen (de)

See also

• fly the nest