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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Mykola, who fled the war in Ukraine in 2024, was a practicing doctor in Kyiv.—
Aditi Sangal,
CNN Money,
27 Oct. 2025 -
The United Nations' migration agency said 2,500 to 3,000 people had fled El Fasher since Sunday.—
NPR,
NPR,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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In the example below from their 2-1 win over Girona, Barcelona man-mark the opposition midfielders but Fermin Lopez’s passive positioning allows a pass into retreating centre-forward Portu.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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Teddy demands that Michelle take him and Don to her Andromedan leader in the hope of forcing the invaders to retreat.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Palace’s super-strength is low crosses provided by flying wing-backs, when they can be released, running into space on the edge of the box.—
Liam Tharme,
New York Times,
31 Oct. 2025
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The fabrics utilize the same aerodynamic principles as a golf ball, whose dimpled surface causes a ball to fly further by using turbulence to reduce drag.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The alternative to betting on a resilient platform with everything built in now is spending lots of time and money to bolt on later.—
Kellie Romack,
Fortune,
29 Oct. 2025
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But with college players having so much power in the NIL era, coaches cannot risk anything that might give their athletes reason to bolt for another team.—
Jordan Sigler,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Since last Thursday, Disney has run public messages notifying YouTube TV customers of a possible blackout.—
Liam Reilly,
CNN Money,
31 Oct. 2025
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The duo will produce the film with David Glasser, who runs Sheridan’s production company 101 Studios.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The Epstein story is all about people who are sufficiently rich or entitled escaping the full consequences of their actions, something that is still happening here.—
Helen Lewis,
The Atlantic,
25 Oct. 2025
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Seven years after disappearing from his California home in 1972, 14-year-old Steven Stayner escaped his kidnapper, Kenneth Parnell, and returned to his family in 1980.—
James Mercadante,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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In the below example, against Real Oviedo’s zonal scheme protecting the six-yard box, three players run away from goal and one to the near-post to attack Marcus Rashford’s outswinger, resulting in Araujo scoring.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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Most of us are socialized not just to suck it up, never to cry or show emotions, but also to suppress, go silent, hide, run away, act as if there is no agony.—
Kevin Powell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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At 25, when half her friends ran off to marry well and the other half were hell-bent on climbing the corporate ladder, Bizu found herself in the middle, unsure whether to pursue a boyfriend or a business plan.—
Kimberly Wilson,
Essence,
28 Oct. 2025
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Birdie runs First-round leader Steven Alker ran off six consecutive birdies on the back nine Friday which jettisoned him up the leaderboard to a tournament-record 61.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
25 Oct. 2025
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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 3 Nov. 2025.
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