to chase or search for (game or other wild animals) for the purpose of catching or killing.
to pursue with force, hostility, etc., in order to capture (often followed bydown ).
They hunted him down and hanged him.
to search for; seek; endeavor to obtain or find (often followed by up orout ).
to hunt up the most promising candidates for the position.
to search (a place) thoroughly.
to scour (an area) in pursuit of game.
to use or direct (a horse, hound, etc.) in chasing game.
Change Ringing. to alter the place of (a bell) in a hunt.
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.
an act or practice of hunting game or other wild animals.
a search; a seeking or endeavor to find.
a pursuit.
a group of persons associated for the purpose of hunting; an association of hunters.
an area hunted over.
Change Ringing. a regularly varying order of permutations in the ringing of a group of from five to twelve bells.
(James Henry) Leigh 1784–1859, English essayist, poet, and editor.
Richard Morris, 1828–95, U.S. architect.
(William) Holman 1827–1910, English painter.
William Morris, 1824–79, U.S. painter (brother of Richard Morris Hunt).
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
(tr) to use (hounds, horses, etc) in the pursuit of wild animals, game, etc
to hunt a pack of hounds
(tr) to search or draw (country) to hunt wild animals, game, etc
to hunt the parkland
to track or chase diligently, esp so as to capture
to hunt down a criminal
(tr; usually passive) to persecute; hound
(intr) (of a gauge indicator, engine speed, etc) to oscillate about a mean value or position
(intr) (of an aircraft, rocket, etc) to oscillate about a flight path
the act or an instance of hunting
chase or search, esp of animals or game
the area of a hunt
a party or institution organized for the pursuit of wild animals or game, esp for sport
the participants in or members of such a party or institution
informal having a chance of success See also hunt down hunt up
that result keeps us in the hunt
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
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
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."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Hunt bust is fashioned in the lustrous, realistic style that French would bring to the Lincoln Memorial a generation later.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
At the center, resting on a plinth in front of a shallow niche and beneath a graceful valance of laurel, is French’s striking bronze portrait bust of Hunt.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
The Chinese government also announced "Operation Fox Hunt" and "Operation Sky Net" to track down fugitives from the law.
From BBC • May 7, 2026
His character, Luther, is a key ally of Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and played a crucial role in the events of 2025’s “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2026
And he stays in the cabin he has always shared with Reverend Hunt, John Laydon, and others.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
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.
