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Imagine someone's car broken down on the side of road or someone who had no money with himself needed to take a taxi and then he started flagging down towards cars passing ,a car came along and stopped by him and he went wherever he wanted to go. what would be the verb of getting in a car in this way? what did he do in English?
Thank you in advance.
You could probably use hitch:
He had to hitch a ride to get home.
This is a derivative of hitchhike/hitchhiker, though this refers to purposefully trying to get a ride with a stranger, for example if you don't have a car or money but need to get somewhere.
What you're describing is called hitchhiking. As in, he "hitched" a ride to the nearest gas station. That would make him a hitchhiker. It's also illegal in some places.
You could also use the verb "hail." As in, to "hail" a cab. Hail would more often be used to flag down a taxi for a paid ride, but hail could also be used to get the attention of passing cars.
