hie

American  

[hahy] / haɪ /

verb (used without object)

hied, hieing, hying

1. to hasten; speed; go in haste.

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verb (used with object)

hied, hieing, hying

1. to hasten (oneself ).

   Hie yourself down to this once-in-a-lifetime sale!

HIE ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. (in Scotland) Highlands and Islands Enterprise

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hie ² British  

/ haɪ /

verb

1. archaic to hurry; hasten; speed

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Etymology

Origin of hie

before 900; Middle English hien, hyen, Old English hīgian to strive; cognate with Dutch hijgen to pant, Greek kíein to go; Latin ciēre to cause to go

Explanation

To hie is to move in a hurried or hasty way. It's the kind of word you are more likely hear in a Shakespeare play, like when a character demands, "Hie thee hither!" The verb hie is extremely old fashioned, so you're much more likely to read it in a book than to hear someone say it. Still, it's good to know when you read, "Hie thee to the castle!" that it means "Hey, get a move on! Go to the castle!" It comes from the Old English word higian, "strive or hasten," from a Proto-Germanic root.

Example Sentences

Nick Wittgren allowed four straight singles starting the fourth, including Alex Rivas’ RBI hie.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 26, 2022

If you, like me, find yourself wondering this week about how the hell this whole Johnny English thing got started, hie yourself to YouTube and search for “Johnny English Barclaycard.”

From Seattle Times • Oct. 24, 2018

Prithee wouldst thou extinguish it, or hie thee to the lobby?

From Washington Post • Apr. 29, 2015

Chief among the sprawling cast are the overbearingly pompous grocer, Herr Zangler, and his two naif assistants who seize the opportunity of their boss' day-long absence to hie off to Vienna on a romantic adventure.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2014

A phrase later made famous by Marx in the Eighteenth Brumaire in the variant form Hie Rhodus, hie salta.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton