fly the coop

present singular third person flies the coop · participle present flying the coop · past flew the coop · participle past flown the coop

1. figurativelyTo depart hastily or unannounced; to escape or flee.

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

   1910, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 3, in A Texas Ranger

   2 more examples

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

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

   I think even Ruth looked over there when she was thinking about flying the coop.

   2023, Sam Esmail, Rumaan Alam, Leave the World Behind, spoken by G.H. Scott

2. To escape from a pen or similar enclosure.

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

   1961 January 6, “Assisi Revisited”, in Time