hightailed
Left in haste
Hightailed is the past tense of hightail, meaning to leave quickly or flee in a hurry.
The image behind it is of an animal—originally a mustang or other horse—raising its tail as it bolts away at speed.
We hightailed it out of there before the cops showed up.
The verb almost always appears with "it" as a dummy object, making "hightail it" function as a fixed phrase.
Fastened or fled suddenly
- fledEscaped from danger
- escapedGot away from confinement
- ranMoved swiftly, past tense
- sprintedRan at top speed
dashed · skedaddled · scampered · retreated · absconded · vamoosed · split · took off
Driven by urgent need
- franticWildly anxious or desperate
- hurriedDone too quickly
- rushedDone with excessive speed
- hastyExcessively quick, ill-considered
pressing · emergency · crisis · panic · scramble · time-sensitive · last-minute · immediate
bolted
Fastened or fled suddenly
sprinted · dashed · skedaddled · scampered · retreated · absconded · vamoosed · split · took off · made tracks
desperate
Driven by urgent need
hasty · pressing · emergency · crisis · panic · scramble · time-sensitive · last-minute · immediate · critical
fast
Speedy, or skip eating
speedy · hurried · rushed · racing · zooming · blazing · streaking · barreling · rocketing · shooting
scared
Feeling fear or alarm
- panickedOverwhelmed by sudden fear
- frightenedExperiencing sudden fear
- spookedFrightened into alertness
startled · alarmed · terrified · rattled · chicken · yellow · cowardly · skittish · nervous · anxious
- disappearedvanished, disappeared, gone, vanish, faded
hightailedstayed
Continued being present
remained · stayed put · lingered · stuck around · stood one's ground
- hightail itDepart with urgency
- hightailed itDeparted very quickly
- hightailing itDeparting very quickly