Meanings
present singular third person hits the gas · participle present hitting the gas
- USidiomaticTo go; go faster.
They're gaining on you; you'd better hit the gas, now!
1 more example
Impera's right below us. I'm pointing her straight down and hitting the gas. There's a military base down there that'll try to blow us apart before we hit. Let's not be here when that happens.
2014 November [2014 May 28], Mac Walters, Jeremy Barlow, “Mass Effect: Foundation #11”, in Mass Effect: Foundation, volume 3 (Science Fiction), spoken by Zaeed Massani, Dark Horse Comics, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 66Synonyms: gas, hit the accelerator, lay tracks, put the pedal to the metal, step on the gas
- idiomaticinformalTo advance or do something more quickly or with more energy.
Synonyms: hit the accelerator, step on the gas
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo go; go faster.
verbTo advance or do something more quickly or with more energy.
Origin
Suggesting the use of a gas pedal, or accelerator.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish painaa talla pohjaan
- painaa talla pohjaanto go faster
French mettre les gaz
- mettre les gazto go faster
German Gas geben
- Gas gebento go faster
Portuguese pisar fundo
- pisar fundoto go faster
Russian жать на газ, газану́ть
- жать на газ (žatʹ na gaz)to go faster
- газану́ть (gazanútʹ)to go faster
- газова́ть (gazovátʹ)to go faster
Spanish acelerar a fondo, acelerar
- acelerar a fondoto go faster
- acelerarto go faster
Swedish trampa på gasen
- trampa på gasento go faster
Cite this entry
hit the gas. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hit%20the%20gas
“hit the gas.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hit%20the%20gas. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hit the gas,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hit%20the%20gas.
Source: hit the gas on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.