HOTFOOT


Meaning of HOTFOOT in English

I. ˈhätˌfu̇t, usu -u̇d.+V adverb

Etymology: Middle English hot fot

: in haste : without delay : hastily

sent ambassadors hotfoot to the Turk — Francis Hackett

drove his vessel hotfoot for the Boston pier — Mary H. Vorse

II. intransitive verb

: to go hotfoot : hasten , hurry — usually used with it

hotfooting it north … with a Texas posse on its heels — W.F.Harris

transitive verb

: to give (someone) a hotfoot : goad

III. noun

( plural hotfoots )

Etymology: hot (I) + foot

1. : a practical joke in which a match is surreptitiously inserted in the side of a victim's shoe and lighted

2.

a. : a stinging rebuke : insult , taunt

administers one intellectual hotfoot after another to the Philistine public — Edgar Johnson

b. : goad , spur

has given tradition-bound Baltimore a hotfoot — Newsweek

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.