high-tail

/'hai,teil/

Thân thiện

The cat high-tails it across the lawn when the sprinklers turn on.

Definition

Verb: - To retreat or depart very quickly, at full speed, often in a hasty or urgent manner. This is an informal, chiefly North American expression.

Usage

This verb is used to describe a rapid, often hurried departure from a place or situation. It is typically used in informal contexts and often implies a sense of urgency, fear, or the need to escape. It is frequently followed by a prepositional phrase (e.g., "high-tail it out of here," "high-tail it to a place").

Examples

Advanced Usage

• "to high-tail it": This is the most common phrasal construction. The word "it" functions as an indefinite object and is an integral part of the idiom.
  • As soon as the meeting was over, he high-tailed it to the airport.

Variants and Related Words

• Hightail (verb): An alternative spelling, written as one word.
  • We need to hightail out of this neighborhood before it gets dark.

Synonyms

• Scram: To leave quickly.
• Skedaddle: To run away hurriedly.
• Bolt: To run away suddenly.
• Make a run for it: To attempt to escape by running.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• High-tail it out (of): To leave a place very quickly.
  • We high-tailed it out of the city for the weekend.

Related Idioms

• Get out of Dodge: To leave a place quickly, especially to avoid trouble. (This idiom shares a similar informal and urgent tone with "high-tail it.")
  • Things were getting heated, so I decided to get out of Dodge.

Học thuật

Verb

1. retreat at full speed
   • The actress high-tailed to her villa when reporters began to follow her to the restaurant