spirited
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spirit away
To take, sneak, or carry someone or something away in a mysterious, secretive, or furtive manner. A noun or pronoun can be used between "spirit" and "away." Often used in passive constructions. Someone spirited away the suspect just before he was due to be arraigned in court. Evidence of the politician's involvement in the scandal appears to have been spirited away.
spirit off
To take, sneak, or carry someone or something away in a mysterious, secretive, or furtive manner. A noun or pronoun can be used between "spirit" and "off." Often used in passive constructions. Someone spirited off the suspect just before he was due to be arraigned in court. Evidence of the politician's involvement in the scandal appears to have been spirited off. The sneaky child spirited the candy off while no one was looking.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
spirit someone or something away (somewhere)
to sneak someone or something away to another place. The police spirited the prisoner away before the crowd assembled in front of the jail. They spirited away the celebrity.
spirit someone or something off (to some place)
to hurry someone or something away, presumably unnoticed, to another place. Aunt Jane spirited the children off to bed at half-past eight. She spirited off the leftover roast beef.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
spirit away
Carry off mysteriously or secretly, as in The police found that the documents had been spirited away from the office. This term derives from the noun spirit, in the sense of "a supernatural being such as a ghost." [Second half of 1600s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
spirit away
v.
To carry someone or something off mysteriously or secretly: The lawyers spirited away the documents. In the folktale, an old giant spirited the children away.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.