to squirrel away
4
5.3
- phrasal verb
- /ˈskwɜrəl əˈweɪ/
- Informal
:
ahorrar
- In the short term, I think families in your situation would be well-advised to squirrel away every dollar they can into emergency fund savings, just in case the fiscal cliff kicks in.
- squirreling away money
- squirreling away cash
- squirreled away their savings
Examples
-
Before husband and kids, I squirreled away an aggressive amount of money, by general standards, but probably not by Mustachian standards.
Blog text (28) -
It's also managed to squirrel away $6.5 billion in cash under the mattress for a rainy day.
Blog text (2) -
Mama had squirreled away two hundred dollars in her coffee can.
Fiction book (1996) -
Becky thought that Ray was squirreling away money.
-
I gave it six months, squirreling away the money I made hustling games or jobs at the track.
Fiction book (1995) -
Well, the government is going to make sure that that money isn't squirreled away in some bank.
Blog text (10) -
You got 600,000 bucks squirreled away somewhere, Joe.
-
Much of the new wealth was used inefficiently or simply squirreled away.
Academic text (2009) -
I've learned to tone down my observations, and I squirrel away savings and do what I can to meet my needs for financial control, which are different from her needs.
Blog text (29) -
If you want to buy a new car, you should start to squirrel away some money every month.
Synonyms
144
5.1
To hide money or things in a secret place for later
87
2.6
To put money aside little by little for something you want
45
4.8
To collect and keep large amounts of food or other things for future use
13
4.9
Put something in a hidden place to use later
9
6.7
To hide or store something in a safe place to use later
1
3.5
Save money for future use
1
6.7
To save money little by little to use later
1
5.8
To hide things like food or money in a secret place for later use
1
4.7
To save money or keep goods for later
Put money or things aside in a safe place to use later
To store things like food or money so you can use them later
Antonyms
How Hidden
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from the constituents: 'squirrel' (as a verb) means to secretly put or save items and 'away' indicates storing/reserving for later, so combined they transparently mean to save or stash something. This verb + away compositional pattern is productive in English and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent meanings.
Etymology
Squirrel away comes from the animal squirrel, which hides nuts and carries them away to small hidden places to eat later. So, squirrel away means 'to save or store something quietly over time for later'.