hightail it

Related to hightail it: tail end, tail off, curtails

hightail it

To depart very quickly. The phrase refers to the way some animals raise their tails when fleeing. We hightailed it out of the party when we heard police sirens approaching. I hightailed it to the store for cleaning supplies when I heard that my mother-in-law was coming to town.
See also: hightail
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

hightail it

Go as fast as possible, especially in leaving; rush off. For example, With the police now searching for them, they hightailed it out of town, or When Jane remembered it was his birthday, she hightailed it to the bakery for a cake. This expression alludes to the raised tail of a rabbit or other animal that is fleeing. [Colloquial; late 1800s]
See also: hightail
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

ˈhightail it

(informal, especially American English) leave somewhere very quickly: As soon as the bell went for the end of lessons, Jack ran out of the school gates and hightailed it for home.
This is a comparison with the way some animals raise their tails when they are running away.
See also: hightail
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

hightail it

To hurry or flee.
See also: hightail
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • hightail
  • hightail it out of
  • hightail it out of (somewhere)
  • depart for (some place)
  • depart for some place
  • come up tails
  • cut and run
  • cut and run, to
  • run off
  • depart this life
References in periodicals archive
Witnesses saw two men hightail it in a pickup truck with a 136-pound, 6-foot-tall Mr.
QUOTES
The pitch: Four college dudes hightail it from Ithaca, N.Y., to Austin, Tex., to retrieve a videotape that could destroy a romance--and try to grab a slice or two of American Pie along the way.
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They didn't have time to hightail it back home, so they made a split-second decision to have the baby in Los Angeles.
Op fear that Clint hid from his fans
"Then you take that cage and you put it in the middle of a city, you open it, and you hightail it out of there.
Caging the crazy: "supermax" confinement under attack
"If the canaries fell dead, the miners would hightail it out of there," Scannell said.
The smoking gun
At the first whiff of grapeshot, they'd hightail it backwards and leave you to face the music on your own.
Wheeler dealing by the guardians of justice (web)
With mum Kerry 'borrowing' Dan's camper van Hettie, Amy snatches Kyle from playgroup at the community centre, and they hightail it out of the village.
Kidnapping Kyle; Desperate to have her little boy back, Amy plans to abduct him; We love SOAPS
Hightail it out of there before she spots your arrival.
Are you a mean girl? Is your 'tude totally sweet or a little on the sour side? Find out!
Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Paul Robinson had gone up for a corner in a last-ditch attempt to grab a goal but then had to hightail it back to the other end of the ground when the opposition got hold of the ball.
Brown chooses right - 23 years after Dessie haunt; THE DIKLER
"But we had to hightail it back to Southport and go through the local directory for caterers.
Getting us to the church on time; The design duo help three couples plan their big day, writes RICK FULTON COLIN AND JUSTIN'S WEDDING BELLS THURSDAY,FIVE, 8pm
From the show's opening moments, when Roxie looks on with a sullen, confused pout as her lover prepares to hightail it out of her unsatisfactory life, Griffith infuses her perf with a natural vulnerability that gives her Roxie a refreshing authenticity.
Griffith shimmies into 'Chicago'
IT ALL STARTED INNOCENTLY ENOUGH-A LITTLE jaunt down to San Diego for a bit of the old surf and skate, then hightail it across the desert to AZ for a bit of family holiday action with a little more skate and create thrown in.
Southwest invasion
At the Atlanta rug market, Bob Batt of Nebraska Furniture Mart told us to hightail it to the new store, the best cross-category merchandising he'd ever seen.
DESTINATION DALTON