Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To go in haste. Often used with it.
- adverb In haste.
- noun The practical joke of lighting a match that has been secretly inserted between the sole and upper of a victim's shoe.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In great haste; with great speed.
- To chase or pursue in hot haste; follow at a hot pace.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb colloq. In haste; foothot.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun US The prank of secretly inserting a match between the sole and upper of a victim's shoe and then lighting it.
- adverb UK
hastily ; withoutdelay .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb move fast
- adverb without delay; speedily
- noun a practical joke that involves inserting a match surreptitiously between the sole and upper of the victim's shoe and then lighting it
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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"hotfoot" boats, and in the land where a coolie may be hired all day for forty cents Mexican or twenty cents in our coin this human power is far cheaper than soft coal at five dollars a ton.
The Critic in the Orient George Hamlin Fitch 1888
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But what doesn't usually make it into the press, is that a handful of A-list movie stars wanting refuge, will hotfoot it to their favorite luxury escape: San Ysidro Ranch.
Louise Roe: San Ysidro Ranch, Cali's Most Stylish A-list Hideaway Louise Roe 2012
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Has to hotfoot out of town once they get that way about him.
Eddie's Story TimChambers 2011
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Has to hotfoot out of town once they get that way about him.
Eddie's Story TimChambers 2011
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We had to wake up at the crack of dawn, hotfoot it to the schools we were allocated to, man our positions, and “work it”.
Global Voices in English » Kuwait: Election History: Four Women Win Parliament Seats 2009
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Book a cheap flight to Copenhagen, hotfoot it to the tourist office in Town Hall Square and ask where the nearest knitting shop is.
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Will you be having a word with the French Open organisers so you can hotfoot it over to Wembley for the Champions League final?
Victoria Azarenka: The best thing I've seen on TV? The royal wedding 2011
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But what doesn't usually make it into the press, is that a handful of A-list movie stars wanting refuge, will hotfoot it to their favorite luxury escape: San Ysidro Ranch.
Louise Roe: San Ysidro Ranch, Cali's Most Stylish A-list Hideaway Louise Roe 2012
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In this case, McLaughlin asked Gore to speak to the Democrat state legislator who was giving Google a privacy hotfoot.
In the Plex Steven Levy 2011
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Someone should should hotfoot them just to break the tension.
Texas Rangers vs. Detroit Tigers - live! | Michael Solomon 2011
yarb commented on the word hotfoot
'"Dewey sure is a sucker for the hotfoot. This must be a thousand times somebody gives him the hotfoot. It's a dozen times, at least, that I give him the hotfoot myself."'
- Nightmare Alley, William Lindsay Gresham
June 30, 2012