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Synonyms

hitch a ride

Idioms  

  1. Also, thumb a ride. Solicit a free ride, especially by hitchhiking. For example, I've no car; can I hitch a ride home with you? or He was hoping to thumb a ride to the stadium. The verb hitch here alludes to walking unevenly, presumably to hop into a car or truck; raising one's thumb is the traditional signal for stopping a car on the road. [First half of 1900s]

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.

Amira and her husband finally managed to hitch a ride on a pick-up truck carrying a cargo of vegetables.

From BBC • Aug. 27, 2025

It's also used at shipping ports to kill pests before they can hitch a ride to other parts of the world.

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2024

Now, researchers say the bird may hitch a ride by listening for very low frequency sounds humans can’t hear—one of only a few species known to do so.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 11, 2023

He didn't hitch a ride on a jet owned by a friend.

From Salon • Oct. 5, 2023

I was goofing around, shooting hoops by myself, waiting for Sean to get out of the ceramics studio so I could hitch a ride home.

From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.