hotfoot

American  

[hot-foot] / ˈhɒtˌfʊt /

noun

hotfoots plural

1. a practical joke in which a match, inserted surreptitiously between the sole and upper of the victim's shoe, is lighted and allowed to burn down.

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verb (used without object)

1. Informal. to go in great haste; walk or run hurriedly or rapidly (often followed byit ).

   to hotfoot it to the bus stop.

adverb

1. with great speed in going; in haste.

hotfoot British  

/ ˈhɒtˌfʊt /

adverb

1. with all possible speed; quickly

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verb

1. to move quickly

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• hotfoots
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hotfoot

1250–1300; Middle English hot fot (adv.). See hot, foot

Example Sentences

They don’t all hotfoot it straight to the police station.

From Slate • May 20, 2023

I decided to take time off work the very next day and hotfoot it to Tel Aviv, to get ahead of any competitors.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 7, 2019

He has come hotfoot from his new home in Sunningdale, Berkshire, where he has moved with his wife, a French artist, to be closer to Gracie, his 11-year-old daughter with his former partner, Anna Friel.

From The Guardian • May 29, 2017

One measly hotfoot, and you are out on your butt.

From Washington Post • Jan. 23, 2015

Beans and Mutto stood directly in front, grinning, as if watching someone about to get a hotfoot.

From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli