hightail it

hightail it idiom
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]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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