hitch a ride

Idioms and Phrases

Also, thumb a ride . Solicit a free ride, especially by hitchhiking. For example, I've no car; can I hitch a ride home with you? or He was hoping to thumb a ride to the stadium . The verb hitch here alludes to walking unevenly, presumably to hop into a car or truck; raising one's thumb is the traditional signal for stopping a car on the road. [First half of 1900s]

Example Sentences

It's also used at shipping ports to kill pests before they can hitch a ride to other parts of the world.

From Science Daily

Ultra high-definition cameras from a UK start-up will hitch a ride to the International Space Station later.

From BBC

That applies to bedbugs that may hitch a ride with you back to your home.

From Los Angeles Times

A friend offered to hitch a ride on a boat delivering supplies to that part of the island before realizing that police had cordoned off the area and wouldn’t let him make the 15-minute walk from the dock to the home.

From Los Angeles Times

In an era of Eras literature, which has ascended to its own genre of pop culture commentary, it can be a little too easy to hitch a ride on the bandwagon of awe and adulation — to uncritically aggrandize a billion-dollar enterprise.

From Salon

Related Words

• cruise
• drift
• drive
• float
• go
• go with
• guide
• move
• sit
• travel