hotfoot
/'hɔtfut/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adverb:
- Without delay; speedily: "hotfoot" describes moving or acting with great haste and urgency.
- Noun:
- A practical joke: Specifically, a prank involving inserting a match between the sole and upper of a person's shoe and lighting it.
- Verb:
- To move or go quickly; to hurry: To travel somewhere with speed and urgency.
Usage Examples
- Adverb:
- The messenger was sent hotfoot to the capital with the urgent news.
- They drove hotfoot to the airport, hoping to catch the last flight.
- Noun:
- He pulled a classic hotfoot on his unsuspecting coworker.
- The hotfoot is a silly but harmless prank common in some offices.
- Verb:
- We need to hotfoot it to the store before it closes.
- She hotfooted out of the room when she heard the alarm.
Advanced Usage
- "to hotfoot it (somewhere)": This is the most common verb form, always used with "it" to mean to hurry or rush to a specific place.
- We'd better hotfoot it home; a storm is coming.
Variants and Related Words
- Hotfooted (adj): Having moved or acted with haste. (Less common)
- Their hotfooted departure left everyone confused.
Synonyms
- Adverb: Hastily, speedily, posthaste, hurriedly.
- Verb: Rush, dash, hurry, race, sprint.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Hotfoot it: To go somewhere very quickly.
- When the meeting ended, he hotfooted it to the parking lot.
Related Idioms
- To be in a hotfoot hurry: To be in an extreme rush. (This is a less common, descriptive phrase based on the word's meaning).
- She was in a hotfoot hurry to finish the project.
Adverb
- without delay; speedily
- sent ambassadors hotfoot to the Turks- Francis Hackett
- drove hotfoot for Boston
Noun
- a practical joke that involves inserting a match surreptitiously between the sole and upper of the victim's shoe and then lighting it
Verb
- move fast
- He rushed down the hall to receive his guests
- The cars raced down the street