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 victim told officers that after the shooting occurred, an unknown male approached him and took his gun and fled the scene in a black pick-up truck.—
Jeramie Bizzle,
CBS News,
19 Apr. 2026 -
Sudan last week entered a fourth year of war that, in addition to killing 59,000 people, has forced 13 million to flee their homes.—
Steve Scauzillo,
Daily News,
19 Apr. 2026
Verb
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As tensions escalate into violence, Tina retreats into the basement, seeking refuge from the chaos above.—
Marcus Jones,
IndieWire,
16 Apr. 2026
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The carrier retreated to Naval Support Activity Souda Bay on the island of Crete for maintenance work March 23.—
Cybele Mayes-Osterman,
USA Today,
16 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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But the umpires ruled the play still live and Antonacci ran around the bases for a two-run, inside-the-park home run.—
LaMond Pope,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Apr. 2026
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Region Direct connects the Fan Festival to 15 locations across the metro (including Lawrence, Independence, Overland Park and more) with buses running every 20 minutes (30 minutes for Lawrence).—
Taylor Haught,
Kansas City Star,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In one version of the script, Alonzo managed to escape, but Washington and Fuqua decided against it.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
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To escape North Korea, the Kims would need to evade patrol boats and cross what is known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL) – a tense, disputed maritime boundary between North and South Korea.—
Mike Valerio,
CNN Money,
19 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Authorities say Freeman ran away from the vehicle.—
DeJanay Booth-Singleton,
CBS News,
17 Apr. 2026
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The foursome stares at each other for a moment, then Ashley and Austin literally run away.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Atlanta ran off 11 straight to cut it to 106-98, but Towns scored to restore the double-digit lead.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
18 Apr. 2026
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Colorado scored its lone run off Glasnow in the fourth on a leadoff double by Mickey Moniak, who scored on Troy Johnston’s groundout to third.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
18 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 23 Apr. 2026.
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