hightail it

idiom

US, informal
: to leave a place as quickly as possible
When we heard the night watchman, we hightailed it out of there as quick as we could.

Examples of hightail it in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In most cases, drivers might hightail it out of there. Rachel Uranga, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2024 For an intimate stay, hightail it to Ocean House, a grand 1868 Victorian oceanfront beauty and the crown jewel of the New England town. Megan Murphy, Travel + Leisure, 18 Jan. 2024 For 2024, digital screenings will be offered only in the final five days of the festival, starting Jan. 24 — long after many top players typically hightail it out of Utah. Matt Donnelly, Variety, 18 Jan. 2024 Under the guise of sleeping over at Libby’s, the pair hightail it to New York City. Courtney Howard, Variety, 29 Mar. 2022 But a woman — and all the women in the audience — will endorse her decision to hightail it in the opposite direction. Peter Debruge, Variety, 9 May 2022 Seeking solace and a renewal of her seasonal spirit, Angelina and her firecracker assistant Monique (Zenzi Williams) hightail it to upstate New York. Courtney Howard, Variety, 17 Nov. 2022 Families with little kids often hightail it out, but the native of Spain wanted to settle down in a walkable city with a European flair. Heather Knight, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Dec. 2021 Additionally, this totalitarian system produces only poverty and hunger, and these poor, hungry people hightail it to the United States. Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 19 Apr. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hightail it.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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Cite this Entry

“Hightail it.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hightail%20it. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.

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