hound
1 Americannoun
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one of any of several breeds of dogs trained to pursue game either by sight or by scent, especially one with a long face and large drooping ears.
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Informal. any dog.
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Slang.
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an unpleasant, mean, or despicable person.
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a man who chases women; a promiscuous man.
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Informal. an ardent fan or devotee.
an autograph hound.
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one of the pursuers in the game of hare and hounds.
verb (used with object)
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to hunt or track with hounds, or as a hound does; pursue.
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to pursue or harass without respite.
Her little brother wouldn't stop hounding her.
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to incite (a hound) to pursuit or attack; urge on.
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Informal. to incite or urge (a person) to do something (often followed byon ).
The committee has been hounded on by those who want these repairs done immediately.
idioms
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ride to hounds, to participate in a hunt, whether as a member of the field or of the hunt staff.
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follow the hounds, to participate in a hunt, especially as a member of the field.
noun
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Nautical. either of a pair of fore-and-aft members at the lower end of the head of a mast, for supporting the trestletrees, that support an upper mast at its heel.
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a horizontal bar or brace, usually one of a pair, for strengthening the running gear of a horse-drawn wagon or the like.
noun
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any of several breeds of dog used for hunting
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( in combination )
an otterhound
a deerhound
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a pack of foxhounds, etc
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a dog, esp one regarded as annoying
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a despicable person
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(in hare and hounds) a runner who pursues a hare
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slang an enthusiast
an autograph hound
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short for houndfish See also nursehound
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to take part in a fox hunt with hounds
verb
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to pursue or chase relentlessly
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to urge on
noun
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either of a pair of horizontal bars that reinforce the running gear of a horse-drawn vehicle
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nautical either of a pair of fore-and-aft braces that serve as supports for a topmast
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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houndsimple
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houndssimple
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have houndedperfect
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has houndedperfect
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am houndingprogressive
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are houndingprogressive
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is houndingprogressive
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have been houndingperfect progressive
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has been houndingperfect progressive
Past
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houndedsimple
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had houndedperfect
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was houndingprogressive
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were houndingprogressive
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had been houndingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hound1
First recorded before 900; Middle English h(o)und, Old English hund; cognate with Dutch hond, Old Norse hundr, Danish, Swedish hund, German Hund, Gothic hunds; akin to Latin canis, Greek kýōn (genitive kynós ), Sanskrit śván (genitive śunas ), Old Irish cú (genitive con ), Welsh ci (plural cwn ), Tocharian A kū, Lithuanian šuõ
Origin of hound2
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English houn(e), hune, from Old Norse hūnn “knob at the top of a masthead”
Explanation
A hound is a type of dog with big floppy ears, mainly used for hunting. To hound someone is to relentlessly pursue or pester them. When Elvis sings, “You ain’t nothing but a hound dog,” he’s referring to both. Hounds are dogs that have traditionally been used for hunting because they are excellent at tracking. Most hounds (like beagles and dachshunds) have drooping, floppy ears. Hounds can also be big and scary like the one Sherlock Holmes investigates in The Hound of the Baskervilles. If people hound, they hunt, too, but just in an annoying way. A man can hound a woman by asking for a date 10 times. A hounding person is persistent and probably annoying.
Vocabulary lists containing hound
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
For years, tourists have visited a village hidden in the Welsh mountains of Eryri for its breathtaking beauty and a grave commemorating a faithful hound slain by his master in the 13th Century.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
He once described himself as “a basset hound with a 25-watt personality.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
Among typical dog breeds, the great Anglo-French tricolor hound had the strongest signal at 4.7 to 5.7 percent, followed by the Shiloh shepherd at 2.7 percent.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 29, 2025
The dog, Apollo, is a pickup truck of a hound, and Iris barely has any space for him in her cramped New York City apartment.
From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2025
Even as he spoke, Wart noticed that the hound music was weaker and more querulous.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
She made the ferry journey over to England with a fellow Dutch breeder friend and seven pooches between them -- three of them Swedish Vallhunds and four other hounds.
From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026
Ms Portwin said Countryside Alliance wanted to find a way to "protect those jobs and homes for the hunt staff and protect our packs of hounds".
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2025
With a major role in Josh Safdie’s madcap ping-pong riot, “Marty Supreme,” Paltrow is rounding out the year with a bang, earning her last laugh against gossip hounds and Goop critics.
From Salon ● Dec. 22, 2025
If the temperature is cool, my mom will walk until the hounds of hell stop her, no matter how much pain she’s in; she equates taking a short taxi ride as a moral failure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2025
D’Ath and the other hounds seemed ill at ease.
From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli
His Othello is hounded into a betrayal of his probity and hard-earned honor not just by the villainy of Iago but by the demons of his past.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
He was referring to what he saw as his daughter being "hounded" at one of his properties by Sky News.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
She has done so without being hounded by her big sister.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2026
For performing this service, Amamiya was hounded off the Internet.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026
Their laughter hounded me, but I refused to look back.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
The year before, billionaire Bill Ackman was invited for a friendly Q&A after hounding Harvard’s president out of office, and grievance-fueled media entrepreneur Bari Weiss presented a rallying plug for her Substack.
From Slate ● May 8, 2026
His creditors and vendors—such as cell-tower builders—are hounding him for repayment, and he should have to honor his debts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
He’s been hounding Alijah about getting in the gym.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
Etzebeth continued to loom large over Van Poortvliet, hounding the Leicester nine and disrupting England's plans to exit their own territory.
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2024
Both of them had been hounding him for more men.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
