Definition of "hitchhike"

hitchhike

/ˈhɪt͡ʃhaɪk/

verb
third-person singular simple present hitchhikes, present participle hitchhiking, simple past and past participle hitchhiked
1. To try to get a ride in a passing vehicle while standing at the side of a road, generally by either sticking out one's finger or thumb or holding a sign with one's stated destination.
  Quotations
  Holly came from Miami, F-L-A / Hitchhiked her way across the U.S.A.
  1972, Lou Reed (lyrics and music), “Walk on the Wild Side”, in Transformer
2. (by extension) To be carried along with something else.
  Quotations
  We are constantly being exposed to fungi, whether by picking up spores on our skin or eating food on which fungi are hitchhiking. Most of them won’t take up residence in our bodies.
  2022 September 29, Carl Zimmer, “A New Approach to Spotting Tumors: Look for Their Microbes”, in The New York Times‎
noun
plural hitchhikes
1. A journey made by hitchhiking.
2. (radio, advertising) Alternative form of hitchhiker (“advertisement at the end of a programme”)
  Quotations
  There are just too many diseases for each to have its own special organization, complete with radio hitchhikes, sponsored ads, expensive brochures, pledge cards, team captains and collection envelopes.
  1952, Frank Emerson Andrews, Corporation Giving, page 183