[koop, koo
p] 
| 1. | an enclosure, cage, or pen, usually with bars or wires, in which fowls or other small animals are confined for fattening, transportation, etc. |
| 2. | any small or narrow place. |
| 3. | Slang. a prison. |
| 4. | Sometimes Facetious. a cooperative, esp. the cooperative bookstore of a college or university. |
| 5. | to place in or as if in a coop; confine narrowly (often fol. by up or in). |
| 6. | Slang. (of a police officer) to park and sleep inside one's patrol car while on duty. |
| 7. | fly the coop, Informal. to run off; depart abruptly; escape: We stopped to see my sister, but she'd flown the coop. |
| coop (kōōp) n.
v. tr. To confine in or as if in a coop. Often used with up. See Synonyms at enclose. v. intr. Informal To sleep or shirk in a parked patrol car while on duty. Used of a police officer. [Middle English coupe, possibly from Middle Dutch kūpe, basket, tub, from Germanic *kūpōn, possibly from Latin cūpa, cask.] |
To get away or escape: “The Hendersons found the cocktail party rather dull and decided to fly the coop.”
fly the coop
|
fly the coop
Escape, run away, as in After years of fighting with my mother, my father finally flew the coop. This term originally meant "escape from jail," known as the coop in underworld slang since the late 1700s. [Late 1800s]