hightail

English

WOTD – 7 July 2008

Etymology

From high + tail; refers to the behavior of fleeing animals, such as deer, that raise their tail when running away.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈhaɪ.teɪl/
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Verb

hightail (third-person singular simple present hightails, present participle hightailing, simple past and past participle hightailed)

  1. (informal, chiefly Canada, US, usually transitive) To move at full speed, especially in retreat.
    Synonyms: skedaddle; see also Thesaurus:move quickly
    He hightailed it toward town.
    I want you to hightail your butt out of there before they come back.
    • 2008, Dave Klein, The Game of Their Lives: The 1958 NFL Championship, page 217:
      When I saw he had scored, I just hightailed out of there, because all those people started running down on the field and that's a lot more dangerous than playing.

Derived terms

Translations

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