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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No one was injured, and the suspects fled before deputies arrived.—
Stepheny Price,
FOXNews.com,
14 Jan. 2026 -
Other offenses include fleeing from police, escaping from the Northeast Regional Corrections Center, theft, trespassing and giving police a false name.—
Tom Olsen,
Twin Cities,
14 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Despite being wounded, Sosa-Celis and the other two men retreated into the apartment and barricaded themselves inside.—
Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
15 Jan. 2026
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Adolfsson and Stefan, who works as a substitute teacher, plan their grocery shopping trips to the mainland carefully, stocking up before retreating indoors.—
CNN,
Mercury News,
15 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The new system could replace the Stinger missile, which can engage low-flying aircraft such as helicopters, jets during takeoff or landing, and some drones.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Jan. 2026
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With that possibility in mind, NASA and Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency, agreed to fly one NASA astronaut aboard each Soyuz and one Russian cosmonaut aboard each Crew Dragon.—
William Harwood,
CBS News,
15 Jan. 2026
Verb
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If anything, Lane Kiffin’s decision to bolt for LSU seemed to harden Ole Miss’ resolve, pushing the Rebels to the best season in school history — and within a game of their first national championship game.—
Fiifi Frimpong,
New York Daily News,
9 Jan. 2026
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If anything, Lane Kiffin’s decision to bolt for LSU seemed to harden Mississippi’s resolve, pushing the Rebels to the best season in school history — and within a game of their first national championship game.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The woman running the daycare had attempted life-saving measures on the child before emergency services arrived, First Alert 4 reported.—
Escher Walcott,
PEOPLE,
10 Jan. 2026
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Kaelon Black ran for two touchdowns to lead the Indiana running game.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
10 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Austin Abrams stars as a scuba diver who, while searching for his father’s (Josh Brolin) body, gets swallowed and must find a way to escape.—
Emily Temple,
Literary Hub,
12 Jan. 2026
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Set in 1977, during Brazil’s military dictatorship, the thriller details Armando and his son in their efforts to escape the country in the midst of political turmoil.—
Yamillah Hurtado,
PEOPLE,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The man fled the scene in his vehicle, crashed into a parked car and then ran away on foot, DHS said.—
Danya Gainor,
CNN Money,
15 Jan. 2026
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Dahlin scored two goals, both on the power play, as the Sabres ran away with a 5-2 win against another team battling for position in the Eastern Conference playoff race.—
Matthew Fairburn,
New York Times,
15 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Even one of the greatest ever to play this game, Joe Root, could not work out how to break free of the 36-year-old’s shackles here, failing to score a single run off him for 23 balls in a row before finally yielding to the python-like grip when missing one that homed in on his pads.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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Golden State ran off nine straight, including seven by Butler, to trail 94-90.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
6 Jan. 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 18 Jan. 2026.
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