Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To remove or carry someone or something away rapidly and secretly, as if by mysterious or supernatural means.
   • To make something disappear or be taken in a swift, secretive, and often inexplicable manner.

Usage

This verb is used to describe an action where a person or object is taken or removed in a way that is sudden, stealthy, and seemingly magical or unexplained. It often implies a sense of mystery or lack of obvious agency.

Examples

• Verb:
  • The valuable manuscript was spirited away from the library overnight.
  • Fearing for her safety, her friends spirited her away to a remote cottage.
  • The magician appeared to spirit the coin away with a wave of his hand.

Advanced Usage

• "to spirit someone/something away to a place": Emphasizes the secretive transportation to a specific destination.
  • The agents spirited the witness away to a secure location.
• Often used in passive voice to emphasize the mysterious nature of the removal.
  • After the party, the leftover cake had been spirited away.

Variants and Related Words

• Spirit (verb): The base verb, meaning to carry off mysteriously or secretly. "Spirit away" is the more common phrasal form.
• Whisk away: A synonym implying quick and light movement, but without the strong connotation of mystery or secrecy.

Synonyms

• Abduct (specifically for people, implies force).
• Snatch: To take quickly or abruptly.
• Make off with: To steal and escape with something.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Spirit off: A less common variant with the same meaning as "spirit away".
  • He was spirited off before the press could interview him.

Related Idioms

• Vanish into thin air: To disappear completely and mysteriously. While similar, this idiom focuses on the disappearance itself, not the act of secretly carrying away.
  • The jewels seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Verb

1. carry away rapidly and secretly, as if mysteriously
2. carry off mysteriously; as if by magic