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)
-
hunted,
past participle, past
-
hunting
present participle
-
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.
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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.
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
-
hunts
plural
-
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.
Hunt
2
American
[huhnt]
/ hʌnt /
noun
-
(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).
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
-
(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
noun
-
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
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
-
outhuntverb (used with object)
-
overhuntverb (used with object)
-
huntableadjective
-
unhuntableadjective
-
unhuntedadjective
-
huntedlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
huntsimple
-
huntssimple
-
have huntedperfect
-
has huntedperfect
-
am huntingprogressive
-
are huntingprogressive
-
is huntingprogressive
-
have been huntingperfect progressive
-
has been huntingperfect progressive
Past
-
huntedsimple
-
had huntedperfect
-
was huntingprogressive
-
were huntingprogressive
-
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:
Khawaja insisted in the interview that he wanted his former team-mates to take collective responsibility as a team, but did not want to be responsible for a "witch hunt" regarding specific players.
From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2026
The Buckeyes are still ranked, still technically in the hunt for a playoff berth, but Columbus hopes are sinking.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2026
And the team known as the Black Sea Storm are rising and on the hunt for silverware with their Egyptian King.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2026
Companies of all sizes have been on the hunt to acquire more refineries to build bigger fuel-making businesses, given the almost intractable constraints in global capacity, other people familiar with the matter said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
They’d hunt one down, butcher the animal, cut up the meat, and preserve it in jars they sealed shut in boiling water.
From "I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964" by Lauren Tarshis
In October, Hinojosa told CNN’s Kasie Hunt, “I personally do not support the death penalty,” though she added, “As governor, it will be my responsibility to look at each case individually.”
From Slate ● Nov. 11, 2026
Others such as billionaire oil baron Harold Hamm and legendary wildcatter Hunt Oil signed preliminary deals to invest as well.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026
Hunt described Locke as "a tonic" and "a good man".
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
“Angie’s getting to the point where she’s just about to enter the early part of her peak stage,” Hunt said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
I certainly can’t ask Reverend Hunt to bring it to me.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
An out-of-work copywriter on the job hunt himself, he now hunts down the proliferating scams targeting job seekers everywhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
The steps that had to be followed to find a party or rave added to the fun, turning these events into adrenaline-pumping scavenger hunts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
They are doing this in a range of ways from planting trees and growing vegetables, to leading bug hunts and rediscovering nature.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
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
Like my past hunts, I’ll be competing against others.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
Conservative Roger Gale criticised those who hunted the animals, saying: "A yellow streak runs right through those people and they are revolting."
From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2026
Fifty years ago, the teenage Vance was sent to Vietnam and hunted down Viet Cong forces in the Mekong Delta.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
The evacuees whom AFP met in northern Ukraine on Saturday said that they had to eat grass to survive, and that some had hunted dogs.
From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026
But when being hunted through a postapocalyptic hellscape by killer robots, the value of your shares is unlikely to be top of mind.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
The men had hunted all manner of beasts, but they’d never come across this…this…well, they didn’t know what this thing was.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
The Community Leaders Network, a group of rural representatives from countries in southern Africa, argues that regulated hunting helps pay for rangers and wildlife management.
From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2026
Phil Bohn and his wife, Abbey, were deep into house hunting in Pittsburgh this June when a fortuitously timed email landed in his inbox.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 11, 2026
While hunting for mentorship, I became friends with folks like Ming Smith, Renee Cox and Eric Johnson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2026
In the southern African grasslands, big-game hunters are fretting about a flurry of international bans on hunting trophies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2026
“My dad and I go hunting a lot. He says I have to learn to read maps, especially if we go to the mainland, because we can’t orient to the ocean there.”
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
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