definitions

hightail

[ hahy-teyl ]
/ ˈhaɪˌteɪl /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hightail ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object) Informal.

to go away or leave rapidly: Last we saw of him, he was hightailing down the street.

RELATED WORDS

depart, gallop, bound, dash, course, escape, hie, hustle, canter, abscond, hotfoot, dart, decamp, bolt, hurry, flee, fly, career, flit, barrel

Nearby words

highmore's body, highness, highroad, highsmith, hight, hightail, hightail it, highty-tighty, highveld, highwall, highway

Idioms

    hightail it, hurry; rush; scamper: Hightail it down to the grocery store and buy some bread for lunch.

Origin of hightail

1885–90, Americanism; high + tail1, in reference to the raised tails of fleeing animals, as deer or rabbits
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hightail

  • The two hightail it out of there, but they ultimately get their pie and their happy ending, too.

    12 Craziest Pie Scenes|Marlow Stern|November 21, 2011|DAILY BEAST

  • A good dozen, however, saw what was happening in time to swerve their mounts and hightail it away.

    The Pirates of Ersatz|Murray Leinster

British Dictionary definitions for hightail

hightail

/ (ˈhaɪˌteɪl) /

verb

(intr) informal, mainly US and Canadian to go or move in a great hurryAlso: hightail it
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012