hotfoot

[ hot-foot ]

noun

, plural hot·foots.

1. a practical joke in which a match, inserted surreptitiously between the sole and upper of the victim's shoe, is lighted and allowed to burn down.

verb (used without object)

1. Informal. to go in great haste; walk or run hurriedly or rapidly (often followed by it ):

   to hotfoot it to the bus stop.

adverb

1. with great speed in going; in haste.

hotfoot

/ ˈhɒtˌfʊt /

adverb

1. with all possible speed; quickly

verb

1. to move quickly

Word History and Origins

Origin of hotfoot¹

1250–1300; Middle English hot fot (adv.). See hot, foot

Example Sentences

“But when the lights came up, I was just another colored man hotfooting it back to Colored Town — or else.”

From Washington Post

So here we are, 20 years after U.S. troops invaded Afghanistan and months since they hotfooted it out.

From Salon

A University of Chicago dropout, she hotfoots it to New York on the strength of a Greyhound hookup.

From New York Times

So Seattle’s grass still looks greener from San Francisco — while people already in Seattle are hotfooting it to the burbs.

From Seattle Times

With no medical appointments until midafternoon, I hotfooted it back to New Hampshire, borrowed a pair of skates, and set out on the ice of my old mill pond.

From New York Times