spirited a gun

[NewAmerica]

Does "spirited a gun" refer to "carried secretly a gun"?

Thanks in advance

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A churchgoing Army veteran and father of four who lovingly penned his mother’s obituary two months ago apparently “snapped” yesterday when he spirited a gun into Brigham and Women’s Hospital and fatally shot the heart surgeon who had operated on her, according to the suspect’s sister.

Source

 

[entangledbank]

It's spirited a gun into . . .; it's always used with 'into' (or 'through' or the like). Yes, somehow got it secretly into; as if it was insubstantial, like a spirit (ghost). Not specifically 'carried'; in fact 'spirited into' is a bit mysterious about how it was done.

 

[NewAmerica]

It sounds that the hospital forbids carrying guns into it and the man like a ghost spirited it into the hospital?

 

[Myridon]

It sounds that the hospital forbids carrying guns into it and the man like a ghost spirited it into the hospital?

It's more the gun that was like a ghost. People in the hospital might have seen the man but they did not see the gun.

 

[velisarius]

This use of the verb "spirit" is defined in our dictionary. I've often come across things being spirited away; "spiriting things into places" is probably less usual:

(Random House)
to carry off mysteriously or secretly:
They disguised the king and spirited him out a back door; spirited away by kidnappers.

(Collins Concise)
to carry off mysteriously or secretly (often fol. by away or off):
His captors spirited him away.