Definition of Hitchhike

1. Verb. Travel by getting free rides from motorists.

Exact synonyms: Hitch, Thumb
Generic synonyms: Ride
Derivative terms: Hitchhiker

Definition of Hitchhike

1. Verb. To try to get a ride in a passing vehicle while standing at the side of a road. Generally by either sticking out one's finger or thumb or holding a sign with one's stated destination. ¹

2. Verb. To be carried along with something else, for example Genetic Hitchhiking where a gene is propagated because it occurs in conjunction with a favourable mutation, or Cultural Hitchhiking where a cultural trait spreads with a technologically advanced population. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Hitchhike

1. [v -HIKED, -HIKING, -HIKES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Hitchhike

hit up
hit upon
hit wicket
hitch
hitch-hike
hitch-hiked
hitch-hiker
hitch-hikers
hitch-hikes
hitch-hiking
hitch up
hitched
hitcher
hitchers
hitches
hitchhike (current term)
hitchhiked
hitchhiker
hitchhiker thumbs
hitchhikers
hitchhikes
hitchhiking
hitchier
hitchiest
hitchily
hitching
hitching-bar
hitching bar
hitching post
hitchment

Literary usage of Hitchhike

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Adventure Guide to Guatemala by Shelagh McNally (2003)
"The only place it isn't safe to hitchhike is through El Peten. ... Women should never hitchhike alone. By Car Renting a car gives you freedom and more time ..."

2. Mexico's Pacific Coast by Vivien Lougheed (2004)
"Hitchhiking Mexico is not a place to hitchhike. ... If for some reason you must hitchhike, go to a service station on the edge of town and ask for a ride ..."

3. WMD Machete by Mark Plimsoll (2006)
"I don't backpack, and you won't see me hitchhike anywhere. If I go, it's first class, baby. ... No bus, no hitchhike. That's how the other half lives. ..."

4. Deeper Reading: Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12 by Kelly Gallagher (2004)
"Adolescents, when given the chance, will often "hitchhike" in groups— that is, go along for the ride and not pay for the gas. ..."

5. Icelandby Cathy Harlow by Cathy Harlow (2004)
"Even on the Ring Road you may wait hours, even days, for a ride, and though Iceland may be one of the safer places in the world to hitchhike, ..."

6. Adventure Guide Inside Passage & Coastal Alaska by Ed Readicker-Henderson (2006)
"The tunnel is now as much an Alaskan sight as a glacier, so live it up: if you don't have a car, hitchhike through - it's easy to get a ride, ..."

7. The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal by Stephen Denison Peet (1884)
"... say that hitchhike was the son of Pi, the sun, and was expelled from the upper world for a crime against his father. (See Gen. ix, 22. ..."

8. Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars by National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars, National Research Council (U.S.). Space Studies Board, National Research Council (U.S.). Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences (2006)
"... of policies and practices designed to prevent the contamination of celestial bodies by terrestrial microorganisms that could hitchhike on a spacecraft, ..."

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