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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Tens of thousands fled by boat from Hue, many drowning in the attempt, and by the end of March a million refugees—soldiers, civilians, whole extended families—were clogging Route 7B, a major highway, trying to get farther south.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026 -
More than 12 million have had to flee their homes, earning Sudan the unfortunate privilege of having the world’s worst displacement crisis.—
Nabih Bulos,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Glaciers all over the world -- especially in Antarctica -- are also retreating at a rapid pace, recent research shows.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 Apr. 2026
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After losing her job and her boyfriend, Jamie retreats to her small hometown in Texas, where her friends and memories of a fateful summer in high school turn her life upside down.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Each destroyer is equipped with two SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters that can fly out to ships that might be potentially approaching the blockade line and can provide visual identification of the approaching ship.—
Luis Martinez,
ABC News,
16 Apr. 2026
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The impact sent a baby’s car seat flying.—
Meredith Colias-Pete,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Apr. 2026
Verb
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That the content will become marketing and the audience will bolt.—
Jonathan Hunt,
Fortune,
11 Apr. 2026
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When the Consumer Price Index for March is released on Friday morning, it’s expected to show that US inflation bolted higher – a direct result of the Middle East war’s energy shock.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Speier, who entered politics by first working as a congressional aide and experienced harassment from a supervisor, said that part of the problem in Congress is that members are given wide latitude to run their offices.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
15 Apr. 2026
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Sometimes these Chicago White Sox rebuilds seem to run together in your mind.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Rather than escape, the sheepherder accepts his death.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
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Police said another man and a woman escaped uninjured.—
Adam Harrington,
CBS News,
13 Apr. 2026
Verb
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No candidate is running away with overwhelming support among voters ahead of the June 2 primary.—
Kaitlyn Schallhorn,
Oc Register,
9 Apr. 2026
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Joel Medina, 17, ran away from home in the area of 4th Avenue behind the Shore Mall off of West Jersey, the Egg Harbor Township Police Department said on March 20.—
David Chiu,
PEOPLE,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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After the Nationals scored four runs off Milwaukee relievers Abner Uribe and Angel Zerpa (0-1) to take a 6-3 lead in the seventh, the Brewers quickly responded.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 Apr. 2026
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The Pirates also took advantage of Caleb Thielbar’s throwing error to score an unearned run off the lefty reliever in the 11th inning.—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 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 17 Apr. 2026.
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