verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To move at full speed, especially in retreat. Canada, US, informal, transitive, usually

   "He hightailed it toward town."

2. 2
   retreat at full speed wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

fleeskedaddlebegoneboundcanterclear out

Example

More examples

"I want you to hightail your butt out of there before they come back."

Etymology

From high + tail; refers to the behavior of fleeing animals, such as deer, that raise their tail when running away.

Related phrases

hightail it

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.