🚗 Leaving after crash ⚡ Quick attack

hit-and-run

26 5.4

A vehicle crash caused by a driver who leaves without helping or saying who they are

adjective
/ˈhɪt ənd rʌn/

: de atropello y fuga

I want to report a hit-and-run.
hit-and-run accident
hit-and-run driver
hit-and-run victim

Examples

Six months earlier, Smethway was killed in a hit-and-run incident while he was out jogging.

Blog text (24)
The police have launched an investigation into a recent hit-and-run accident that left two people injured.
We can ask about the hit-and-run driver.

Ficciones (2021)
Yeah, it was a hit-and-run, actually.

Whispers in the Dark (1992)
He was run down in the street by a hit-and-run driver.

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Police have arrested one of two drivers involved in fatal Peninsula hit-and-run crashes that happened within hours of each other Saturday.

Blog text (18)
It was a hit-and-run.

A Housekeeper's Revenge (2016)
We've got a hit-and-run.

Project X (2012)
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Troopers are looking for a car they believe will lead them to a hit-and-run suspect.

Blog text (28)
GREENVILLE, N.C. - A hit-and-run victim killed in Pitt County was remembered during a candlelight vigil Thursday night.

Blog text (28)

Antonyms

assistance

947 1.0

Help given to someone that makes a task easier or gives money

responsibleness

5.1

Careful and reliable way of acting that shows a person can be trusted with duties

Surface Forms

hit-and-run positive

Morphology

hit-and-run = hit + run (transparent) = hit + run

The meaning is directly derived from the sequence 'hit' + 'run' (i.e., someone hits and then leaves), which is clear to learners who know the component verbs.

Etymology

Hit-and-run comes from the two clear words hit 'to strike' and run 'to move away quickly', giving a strong image of someone hitting and then leaving. So a hit-and-run accident is when a driver hits a person or vehicle and goes away without helping or saying who they are.