hit the road
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
To leave; start a journey.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
I'll crash in the back of the van for a couple of hours before hitting the road, I'm too easy a target for the cops in that thing and I'm over the limit.
The marchers had hit the road before 0500 hours, and by midday they were limping back to Heumensoord, having achieved success on day one.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Imported from Wikipedia “English-language idioms” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29), pending review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “hit the road” mean?
To leave; start a journey.
Is “hit the road” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.