disappearing act

collocation in English

meaningsofdisappearandact

These words are often used together. Click on the links below to explore the meanings. Or,see other collocations withact.
disappear
verb[I]
uk
/ˌdɪs.əˈpɪər/us
/ˌdɪs.əˈpɪr/
If people or things disappear, they go somewhere where they cannot be seen ...
See more atdisappear
act
noun
uk
/ækt/us
/ækt/
something that ...
See more atact

(Definition ofdisappearandactfrom theCambridge English Dictionary© Cambridge University Press)

Examplesofdisappearing act

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
One answer to these questions is already implicit in thedisappearingactperformed by nineteenth-century poetesses.
From theCambridge English Corpus
If -zi does not have tone 3 to begin with, there is no need to propose a complex analysis to account for itsdisappearingact.
From theCambridge English Corpus
It reminds me of the social charter that we were promised for the landlords, which has done something of adisappearingact.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
They have disappeared, melted into the background, over 600 of these illegal immigrants have miraculously vanished, they have done adisappearingact.
FromEuroparl Parallel Corpus - English
The environmental dimension continues to do adisappearingactat the crucial moments where existing practice and instruments are concerned.
FromEuroparl Parallel Corpus - English
He then did adisappearingactthere.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
He has done his usualdisappearingact.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
However, this time, when the rabbit attempts anotherdisappearingact, the big dog stops it in his tracks and punches it as hard as possible.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
She made the news once again for her suddendisappearingact, which none of the local celebrities would dare to do.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Miles pretends that he is interested in joining the circus and steps outside to prepare adisappearingact.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Why did she pull adisappearingact?
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
She was often annoyed by his many disappearing acts and that was the main reason for breaking up several times during the time they have been together.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
Want to learn more?
Go to the definition ofdisappear
Go to the definition ofact
See other collocations withact