Meaning & use
hieing
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“hieing” is a form of “hie”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbintransitivearchaicliterary
Hurrying or going somewhere quickly, as a traveler or messenger would.
Grammar: Intransitive, usually followed by a direction word or to: hieing home.
Patterns
- hieing to a place
- hieing off
The messenger was hieing to the castle with urgent news.
Villagers were hieing home before the storm broke.
In the old ballad, the lovers are hieing away at dawn.
verbtransitivearchaicliterary
Moving yourself quickly, using a reflexive object, as in hieing oneself to a place.
Grammar: Takes a reflexive object: he was hieing himself away.
Patterns
- hie oneself to a place
He was hieing himself to the market before the stalls closed.
They were hieing themselves back to the harbor.
Word forms
| third person singular | hies |
|---|---|
| past tense | hied |
| past participle | hied |
| -ing form | hieing or hying |
Common combinations
- hieing to the market
- Farmers were hieing to the market at dawn.
- hieing home
- The children were hieing home as night fell.
- hieing off
- The travelers were hieing off before the rain.
- hieing themselves away
- The thieves were hieing themselves away.
- hie thee hence
- The poem says hie thee hence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hastening
- Hastening is still understood in modern English and can describe any quick action, while hieing is archaic and tied to movement.
- hurrying
- Hurrying is the ordinary modern word and works in every register.
- speeding
- Speeding suggests fast travel and often vehicles, which hieing does not.
- rushing
- Rushing suggests frantic urgency, while hieing sounds brisk and old-fashioned.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: hieing or high?
hieing vs high
Hie and high sound the same, but high describes height, whereas hie is an old verb meaning to hurry.
Practice
In the old poem, the knight was ___ across the moor to reach the castle before nightfall.
Choose one answer.
Hieing is the archaic -ing form meaning hurrying. Hiding sounds similar but means concealing, and highing and hiring do not fit the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hieing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.