as in fleeing
to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening
when a fight broke out, we hightailed it out of the bar
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hightailing (it)
Verb
-
Bolsonaro is under house arrest, surrounded by guards to prevent him from fleeing to a foreign embassy to request asylum.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
10 Sep. 2025 -
Campuses are also a common site for hoax active shooter reports, which often causes mass panic and sends students fleeing for safety.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Schools, churches, small shops that survived the devastating 2010 earthquake that killed over 300,000 are now a pile of rubble, part of the apocalyptic landscape left behind by the retreating forces that control almost all of Haiti’s capital.—
Johnny Fils-Aimé,
Miami Herald,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Water is rapidly replacing ice along the coastal plain of southeastern Alaska, where glaciers are thinning and retreating, with meltwater forming lakes off of their fronts, NASA says.—
Soo Kim,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The sterile cockpit rule prohibits pilots from engaging in conversations unrelated to operating the aircraft when flying below 10,000 feet.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Perhaps the easiest was an airplane flying overhead.—
Nola Taylor Tillman,
Space.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
This does not mean bolting on new features to your existing products, nor hiring an AI person here or there.—
Barry Libert,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
-
As reports from the Ukraine war show, taking a drone and bolting a Claymore mine to it isn't new.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
24 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Videos circulating online showed the gruesome scene as Kirk slumped over, and people ducked to the ground before running away and huddling in nearby buildings.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.—
Jesse Bedayn,
Fortune,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
If her best friend, Enid (Emma Myers), pleads with her to consider the fates of her fellow students before running off to play detective, Wednesday will certainly ignore her.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Crucially, given Dominic Solanke and Richarlison’s tendency to involve themselves in the build-up, having forwards running off the central strikers is imperative.—
Elias Burke,
New York Times,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
After a solid performance in the 2025 opener against Western Michigan, Chiles turned in a breakout performance in an overtime win against Boston College, passing for 231 yards and four touchdowns and running for another score.—
Scott Dochterman,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Some long-running novelas will be made available on Disney+ either next day or within a month of airing on Atresmedia’s free-to-air channels.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Her baby's father answered the door with his eyes bugging out, and Frierson barged in to find two other guys, needles, spoons and powder on the table.—
Brad Schmitt,
The Tennessean,
21 Aug. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Hightailing (it).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hightailing%20%28it%29. Accessed 13 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share