hotfoot

American  

[hot-foot] / ˈhɒtˌfʊt /

noun

• hotfoots
  plural

1. a practical joke in which a match, inserted surreptitiously between the sole and upper of the victim's shoe, is lighted and allowed to burn down.

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verb (used without object)

1. Informal. to go in great haste; walk or run hurriedly or rapidly (often followed byit ).

   to hotfoot it to the bus stop.

adverb

1. with great speed in going; in haste.

hotfoot British  

/ ˈhɒtˌfʊt /

adverb

1. with all possible speed; quickly

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verb

1. to move quickly

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• hotfoots
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of hotfoot

1250–1300; Middle English hot fot (adv.). See hot, foot

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hotfoot hotfoots

Howard is only one of the many characters woven into “Mary Toft,” and Palmer never resorts to pantomime — except, perhaps, for Nathanael St. André, the first surgeon to hotfoot it to Godalming.

From New York Times ● Nov. 19, 2019

The smart sneakers will stymie your prankster buddies when they stoop down to surreptitiously give you a hotfoot.

From Slate ● Mar. 4, 2019

I decided to take time off work the very next day and hotfoot it to Tel Aviv, to get ahead of any competitors.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 7, 2019

He has come hotfoot from his new home in Sunningdale, Berkshire, where he has moved with his wife, a French artist, to be closer to Gracie, his 11-year-old daughter with his former partner, Anna Friel.

From The Guardian ● May 29, 2017

"I wish whoever gave Kravitz that hotfoot would confess," said Specimen.

From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville

A University of Chicago dropout, she hotfoots it to New York on the strength of a Greyhound hookup.

From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 2021

As this year's series of Strictly Come Dancing hotfoots its way towards crowning its winner, reigning champ Joe McFadden professes to not feeling too glum about giving up the glitterball.

From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2018

When the duties of his office absolutely require it, he grimaces, twirls Laura a few times and then hotfoots it off the parquet.

From Time Magazine Archive

Hoover's practical jokes are basically hotfoots with a college education.

From Time Magazine Archive

And get this: hotfoot becomes hotfoots, and still life becomes still lifes.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

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