play the wag

play the wag (third-person singular simple present plays the wag, present participle playing the wag, simple past and past participle played the wag)

1. (idiomatic, UK, slang, dated) To play truant (be absent from school without permission).
   • 1889, Jerome K. Jerome, Three Men in a Boat […] ‎:

     […] that unaccountable luck that appears to always wait upon a boy when he plays the wag from school, and goes out fishing on a sunny afternoon, with a bit of string tied on to the end of a tree.

• hop the wag
• wag it
• skive