hightail it

Idioms  

1. 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]

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Example Sentences

Roughly midway through, Pynchon’s characters hightail it all the way to proto-fascist Budapest, where shadows more lethal than any Tommy gun begin to encroach.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2025

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

“Best get your friend and hightail it outta here.”

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee