hunt
verb (used with object)
to chase or search for (game or other wild animals) for the purpose of catching or killing.
hunt
1 American
[huhnt]
/ hʌnt /
verb (used with object)
-
hunts,
present (3rd person singular)
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hunted,
past participle, past
-
hunting
present participle
-
to chase or search for (game or other wild animals) for the purpose of catching or killing.
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to pursue with force, hostility, etc., in order to capture (often followed bydown ).
They hunted him down and hanged him.
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to search for; seek; endeavor to obtain or find (often followed by up orout ).
to hunt up the most promising candidates for the position.
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to search (a place) thoroughly.
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to scour (an area) in pursuit of game.
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to use or direct (a horse, hound, etc.) in chasing game.
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Change Ringing. to alter the place of (a bell) in a hunt.
verb (used without object)
-
hunts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hunted,
past participle, past
-
hunting
present participle
-
to engage in the pursuit, capture, or killing of wild animals for food or in sport.
-
to make a search or quest (often followed by for orafter ).
-
Change Ringing. to alter the place of a bell in its set according to certain rules.
noun
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hunts
plural
-
an act or practice of hunting game or other wild animals.
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a search; a seeking or endeavor to find.
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a pursuit.
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a group of persons associated for the purpose of hunting; an association of hunters.
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an area hunted over.
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Change Ringing. a regularly varying order of permutations in the ringing of a group of from five to twelve bells.
Hunt
2
American
[huhnt]
/ hʌnt /
noun
-
(James Henry) Leigh 1784–1859, English essayist, poet, and editor.
-
Richard Morris, 1828–95, U.S. architect.
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(William) Holman 1827–1910, English painter.
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William Morris, 1824–79, U.S. painter (brother of Richard Morris Hunt).
hunt
1
British
/ hʌnt /
verb
-
to seek out and kill or capture (game or wild animals) for food or sport
-
to look (for); search (for)
to hunt for a book
to hunt up a friend
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(tr) to use (hounds, horses, etc) in the pursuit of wild animals, game, etc
to hunt a pack of hounds
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(tr) to search or draw (country) to hunt wild animals, game, etc
to hunt the parkland
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to track or chase diligently, esp so as to capture
to hunt down a criminal
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(tr; usually passive) to persecute; hound
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(intr) (of a gauge indicator, engine speed, etc) to oscillate about a mean value or position
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(intr) (of an aircraft, rocket, etc) to oscillate about a flight path
noun
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the act or an instance of hunting
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chase or search, esp of animals or game
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the area of a hunt
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a party or institution organized for the pursuit of wild animals or game, esp for sport
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the participants in or members of such a party or institution
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informal having a chance of success See also hunt down hunt up
that result keeps us in the hunt
Hunt
2
British
/ hʌnt /
noun
-
Henry , known as Orator Hunt . 1773–1835, British radical, who led the mass meeting that ended in the Peterloo Massacre (1819)
-
( William ) Holman. 1827–1910, British painter; a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (1848)
-
James. 1947–93, British motor-racing driver: world champion 1976
-
( Henry Cecil ) John , Baron. 1910–98, British army officer and mountaineer. He planned and led the expedition that first climbed Mount Everest (1953)
-
( James Henry ) Leigh (liː). 1784–1859, British poet and essayist: a founder of The Examiner (1808) in which he promoted the work of Keats and Shelley
hunt
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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outhuntverb (used with object)
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overhuntverb (used with object)
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huntableadjective
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unhuntableadjective
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unhuntedadjective
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huntedlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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huntsimple
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huntssimple
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have huntedperfect
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has huntedperfect
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am huntingprogressive
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are huntingprogressive
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is huntingprogressive
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have been huntingperfect progressive
-
has been huntingperfect progressive
Past
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huntedsimple
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had huntedperfect
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was huntingprogressive
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were huntingprogressive
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had been huntingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hunt
First recorded before 1000; (for the verb) Middle English hunten, Old English huntian, derivative of hunta “hunter,” akin to hentan “to pursue”; noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
To hunt is to track and kill an animal for fun or food. In Italy, they use pigs to hunt truffles. In the US, they use shotguns to hunt deer. Some humans hunt animals with a gun or a bow and arrow, and some animals hunt smaller animals — the way a wolf hunts rabbits or a cat hunts birds. You can hunt in a non-lethal way as well, like when you hunt all over your house for your lost car keys, or your little brother hunts for you during a game of hide-and-seek. The Old English root of hunt is huntian, "chase game."
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:
And in its forests and on its grasslands, tule elk and mule deer graze, while bobcats and coyotes hunt for rabbits and mountain beavers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Whales and sharks breach and hunt in the waters beyond the thick kelp forests that tickle its edges.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
When Anthropic researchers prodded Claude Mythos Preview to hunt for weaknesses in cryptographic systems, the AI initially resisted because it sounded “just genuinely hard.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
With his business empire under scrutiny from federal investigators, Mark Walter was on the hunt for cash when, out of nowhere, he was about to be offered an enormous pile of money.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
When the dragon is older, it will be able to hunt for itself.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
Based on her performances this week, Hunt is only just getting started with her growing medal collection.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Back on home soil, Hunt made no secret that she intends to take it all this week.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
There was a sense that Asher-Smith's seamless baton changeover to Hunt was a symbolic moment, in its wider context.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Hunt says "looking good and feeling good" is all part of her process to get into the right mindset, and likens walking out on to the track to a gladiator entering an arena.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Friday night, in Los Angeles, Howard Hunt stood in a phone booth with the receiver to his ear, listening to the rings.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
The Colosseum, the largest amphitheatre in the world, was built in the first century and was used to host events like animal hunts and gladiatorial games.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
In the past, other parts of Scotland - including Orkney and Shetland - also had seabird hunts.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
With dozens of actors who lead guests through scavenger hunts, puzzles and conversations, Knott’s Berry Farm’s ‘Ghost Town Alive!’ can’t be replicated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
In those early days of television, it became the biggest show in the country, and certain people hovering around those who were perpetrating these witch hunts had a lingering, profound effect on the nation’s future.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
We told stories and some lies about previous quail hunts, but it did no good.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
River otters were hunted by the thousands for their pelts in the 17th and 18th centuries, according to the Sacramento Zoo’s page about the animal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
The students at the Ivy league university had legally hunted the bear off campus and brought it back to the dorm to process the meat, according to the Cornell Daily Sun.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
Scientists do not know whether early humans hunted the animal or collected its bone from a carcass that was already dead.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026
The man is Paul, who does not know how he has come to be in this world but finds himself hunted by a mad duke who wants his magical technologies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
"My husband has hunted since he was a boy," my mother said.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
A spokesman for McDonald’s fraud division said it is “expanding fast, securing more resources and here to stay—relentlessly hunting every fraudster who steals from the American people.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act Muehl admitted to violating prohibits hunting, harassing, capturing, or killing any marine mammal in U.S. waters, or attempting to do so.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
But as they began house hunting in April they quickly realized that, in spite of elevated listing prices and mortgage rates, the Peabody market was exceptionally hot.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Northern sled dogs became compact and heavily coated for cold conditions, while hunting dogs near the equator tended to be leaner and better suited to heat.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
As they got closer to the one-room hunting shack, Owen’s excitement dwindled.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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.
