hightail it

Idioms

Go as fast as possible, especially in leaving; rush off. For example, With the police now searching for them, they hightailed it out of town, or When Jane remembered it was his birthday, she hightailed it to the bakery for a cake. This expression alludes to the raised tail of a rabbit or other animal that is fleeing. [Colloquial; late 1800s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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hightail it

In most cases, drivers might hightail it out of there.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2024

Read on, study up, then hightail it to your nearest butcher.

From Salon ● Apr. 2, 2022

“But if not, we’ll hightail it out. We’ll get out.”

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 31, 2021

“I feel hopeful but not necessarily optimistic,” said Kimmel, who planned to hightail it out of Washington after the show.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 22, 2017

This is my cue to hightail it to the other side of the world.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023