Meaning & use
hitchhiker
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person who travels by asking for free rides from passing drivers, often standing at the roadside with a raised thumb or a sign.
Grammar: Has a plural: hitchhikers. Often follows a verb like pick up or stop for.
Patterns
- pick up a hitchhiker
- a hitchhiker on the road
We stopped for a hitchhiker who was heading to the coast.
The hitchhiker held a sign saying Denver.
As a student, she traveled across Europe as a hitchhiker.
nouncountablefigurative
A creature or thing that travels with something else, such as a seed or insect carried on an animal or vehicle.
Grammar: Used figuratively and informally, often in science or nature writing.
Patterns
- a hitchhiker on something
Some seeds are hitchhikers that cling to animal fur.
Scientists found an unwanted hitchhiker on the ship's hull.
The little beetle was a hitchhiker in the bunch of bananas.
Word forms
| plural | hitchhikers |
|---|
Common combinations
- pick up a hitchhiker
- My dad never picks up a hitchhiker at night.
- a lone hitchhiker
- A lone hitchhiker stood beside the highway.
- stranded hitchhiker
- A stranded hitchhiker waved down our truck.
- hitchhiker with a backpack
- A hitchhiker with a backpack asked how far we were going.
Synonyms and how they differ
- thumber
- Thumber is a rare informal word for the same person, while hitchhiker is the standard term.
- passenger
- Passenger is a general word for anyone riding in a vehicle, whereas a hitchhiker is a passenger who asked a stranger for a free ride.
- stowaway
- A stowaway hides to travel without permission, while a hitchhiker asks openly for a ride.
Opposites
Word family
- hitchhike verb
- to travel by asking for rides from passing drivers
- hitchhiking noun
- the practice of traveling by getting free rides
- hitch verb
- informal short form meaning to hitchhike
- hitch-hiker noun
- alternative spelling with a hyphen
Commonly confused: hitchhiker or hiker?
hitchhiker vs hiker
A hiker walks for pleasure in the countryside, but a hitchhiker travels by getting rides from drivers.
Practice
The driver slowed down because a ____ was standing at the roadside holding a sign.
Choose one answer.
A hitchhiker stands at the roadside asking for rides, often with a sign. A stowaway hides on board, and the others do not fit the sentence.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hitchhiker”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.