Synonyms

hitchhike

American

[hich-hahyk] / ˈhɪtʃˌhaɪk /

verb (used without object)

hitchhiked, hitchhiking

to travel by standing on the side of the road and soliciting rides from passing vehicles.

verb (used with object)

hitchhiked, hitchhiking

to ask for or get (a ride) by hitchhiking.

noun

an act or instance of hitchhiking.

hitchhike British

/ ˈhɪtʃˌhaɪk /

verb

(intr) to travel by obtaining free lifts in motor vehicles

"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

Other Word Forms

hitchhiker noun

Etymology

Origin of hitchhike

An Americanism dating back to 1920–25; hitch ¹ + hike

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.

Four famous duos have travelled nearly 6,000 km, hitchhiking through mountain towns, foraging in dense jungles, and battling challenges they never imagined, as contestants in Celebrity Race Across the World.

From BBC

That abomination pops out of an unsettlingly cheerful woman whose husband swoops in to offer the hitchhiking boy a ride.

From Salon

He said he "hitchhiked to get there, and had a tent, a dream, and three cans of Heinz sausages and beans".

From BBC

One shows the couple with the hitchhiking ghosts from the famous finish of Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride.

From Los Angeles Times

As a truck approaches, she attempts to hitchhike from the side of a desert road, only to strike out.

From Los Angeles Times

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