as in to flee
to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening
when a fight broke out, we hightailed it out of the bar
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hightail (it)
Verb
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The president flees these tradeoffs as a matter of course and flip-flops unpredictably when pressures rise.—
Edward Lotterman,
Twin Cities,
8 Feb. 2026 -
During one game, Graham felt the pass rush and fled the pocket; Brown had ordered him to stay in it, no matter what.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Illinois lawmakers recently flirted with a tax on unrealized gains—think of stocks yet to be sold at fluctuating prices that only exist on paper—before retreating.—
Veronique De Rugy,
Oc Register,
5 Feb. 2026
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Jackson was disinvited from the Grammy Awards telecast the following week and largely retreated from the public spotlight, while Timberlake’s career continued uninterrupted.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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From brushing ice in curling to flying down an ice track headfirst in skeleton, the Winter Olympics are home to some unique and exciting sports that feature uncommon vernacular.—
Ben Morse,
CNN Money,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Last November, the PLA Air Force released a video showing a GJ-11 flying alongside and linked with a J-20 stealth fighter.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Even under the best conditions, head cabbages are relatively slow growers, and early crops often bolt as soon as summer heat strikes, even if the plants aren't fully mature yet.—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
7 Feb. 2026
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Cherry and his group then bolted from the scene, fleeing north on State Street to Lake Street, and then east on Lake Street to Wabash Avenue, as dozens of panicked people began running for their lives, prosecutors said.—
Adam Harrington,
CBS News,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Cisco says the platform is built to support massive AI clusters running training, inference, and real-time agentic workloads while improving efficiency and lowering operating costs.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Feb. 2026
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In September, the preliminary revision inferred that the US economy likely added about 911,000 fewer jobs than the jobs reports initially estimated for the 12-month period running from April 2024 through March 2025.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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There were no sitters within that catalogue of misses — nothing toe-curling or likely to do a million views on YouTube — but his profligacy allowed Dortmund to escape with a 2-1 win.—
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
To escape Earth’s energy crunch, SpaceX is taking AI to orbit, where near-constant solar energy replaces Earth’s strained power grids.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and run away without firing a shot.—
DAVID FISCHER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Arkansas Online,
5 Feb. 2026
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Surveillance footage obtained during an investigation by Lakewood Police captured the two running away to a nearby building as the flames grew, then ultimately using public transportation to leave the premises.—
Angel Saunders,
PEOPLE,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Phosphate fertilizer that runs off farm fields is a wonder food for algae.—
Theodore J. Karamanski,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Feb. 2026
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Lofton’s foster father drove him to a mental health provider, but the teen ran off.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Hightail (it).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hightail%20%28it%29. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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