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

Washington has been getting poked in the eye, given the hotfoot, had bubble gum put on its hat or had its pants pulled down in public since 1901 by the “national pastime.”

From Washington Post ● Oct. 11, 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

So, what say you and me hotfoot it to the airport and get on to that plane.

From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2018

They still can't see that it’s time to cut bait and hotfoot it out of town.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

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

The 30 members of the house and their 15 colleagues in the senate dispensed with the normal rounds of comradely hotfoots and other such capers and grimly got down to business.

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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