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• hunt
  hunt

  verb (used with object)

  to chase or search for (game or other wild animals) for the purpose of catching or killing.
• Hunt
  Hunt

  noun

  (James Henry) Leigh 1784–1859, English essayist, poet, and editor.

hunt

¹ American  

[huhnt] / hʌnt /

verb (used with object)

• hunts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• hunted,
  past participle,  past
• hunting
  present participle

1. to chase or search for (game or other wild animals) for the purpose of catching or killing.

   Synonyms:

   track, pursue

2. to pursue with force, hostility, etc., in order to capture (often followed bydown ).

   They hunted him down and hanged him.

3. to search for; seek; endeavor to obtain or find (often followed by up orout ).

   to hunt up the most promising candidates for the position.

4. to search (a place) thoroughly.

5. to scour (an area) in pursuit of game.

6. to use or direct (a horse, hound, etc.) in chasing game.

7. Change Ringing. to alter the place of (a bell) in a hunt.

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verb (used without object)

• hunts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• hunted,
  past participle,  past
• hunting
  present participle

1. to engage in the pursuit, capture, or killing of wild animals for food or in sport.

2. to make a search or quest (often followed by for orafter ).

3. Change Ringing. to alter the place of a bell in its set according to certain rules.

noun

• hunts
  plural

1. an act or practice of hunting game or other wild animals.

2. a search; a seeking or endeavor to find.

3. a pursuit.

4. a group of persons associated for the purpose of hunting; an association of hunters.

5. an area hunted over.

6. 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

1. (James Henry) Leigh 1784–1859, English essayist, poet, and editor.

2. Richard Morris, 1828–95, U.S. architect.

3. (William) Holman 1827–1910, English painter.

4. William Morris, 1824–79, U.S. painter (brother of Richard Morris Hunt).

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hunt ¹ British  

/ hʌnt /

verb

1. to seek out and kill or capture (game or wild animals) for food or sport

2. to look (for); search (for)

   to hunt for a book

   to hunt up a friend

3. (tr) to use (hounds, horses, etc) in the pursuit of wild animals, game, etc

   to hunt a pack of hounds

4. (tr) to search or draw (country) to hunt wild animals, game, etc

   to hunt the parkland

5. to track or chase diligently, esp so as to capture

   to hunt down a criminal

6. (tr; usually passive) to persecute; hound

7. (intr) (of a gauge indicator, engine speed, etc) to oscillate about a mean value or position

8. (intr) (of an aircraft, rocket, etc) to oscillate about a flight path

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noun

1. the act or an instance of hunting

2. chase or search, esp of animals or game

3. the area of a hunt

4. a party or institution organized for the pursuit of wild animals or game, esp for sport

5. the participants in or members of such a party or institution

6. informal having a chance of success See also hunt down hunt up

   that result keeps us in the hunt

Hunt ² British  

/ hʌnt /

noun

1. Henry , known as Orator Hunt . 1773–1835, British radical, who led the mass meeting that ended in the Peterloo Massacre (1819)

2. ( William ) Holman. 1827–1910, British painter; a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (1848)

3. James. 1947–93, British motor-racing driver: world champion 1976

4. ( Henry Cecil ) John , Baron. 1910–98, British army officer and mountaineer. He planned and led the expedition that first climbed Mount Everest (1953)

5. ( 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

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hunt Idioms  

1. see happy hunting ground; high and low, (hunt); run with (the hare, hunt with the hounds).

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• outhunt
  verb (used with object)
• overhunt
  verb (used with object)
• huntable
  adjective
• unhuntable
  adjective
• unhunted
  adjective
• huntedly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hunts
  plural

Participles

• hunting
  present
• hunted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• hunt
  simple
• hunts
  simple
• have hunted
  perfect
• has hunted
  perfect
• am hunting
  progressive
• are hunting
  progressive
• is hunting
  progressive
• have been hunting
  perfect progressive
• has been hunting
  perfect progressive

Past

• hunted
  simple
• had hunted
  perfect
• was hunting
  progressive
• were hunting
  progressive
• had been hunting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will hunt
  simple
• will have hunted
  perfect
• will be hunting
  progressive
• will have been hunting
  perfect progressive

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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

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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

See Examples For:

hunt Hunt hunts hunted hunting

The authorities were summoned, and King James himself led 400 men to hunt for the killers.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

So we’ve started casually looking at rental listings, letting friends know that we’re on the hunt, preparing our kids for the idea of a smaller place, a new school.

From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026

Now he finds himself back on the hunt in an officially recognized unofficial capacity most everyone agrees is a good, or not a really bad, thing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

So goes the dance between a growing universe of points junkies who are constantly on the hunt for ways to milk rewards programs, and the banks that patrol for their ever-evolving tactics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026

“Goddess of the hunt, of the forest, and the moon. Protector of children, too.”

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

Berry’s fiancé, Van Hunt, and her attorneys also filed declarations vouching for the “Monster’s Ball” actor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

Hunt accompanied Berry during the past weeks’ hearing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

The McLaren of James Hunt is tipped into the air as it collides with the Brabham of John Watson at the start of the 1977 race at Long Beach.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

Hunt Transport Services is looking to raise prices as it grapples with a steep increase in costs, the Journal’s Elias Schisgall writes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Hunt paced the dark sidewalk in front of Dr. Fielding’s apartment building.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

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

Many job hunts can erode a person’s patience.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 5, 2026

And Awaze, the European holiday-rental group, says searches for "escape the heat" rose three-fold in the past three months, while hunts for "coolcation" were up more than four-fold.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

“It hunts us,” I said, turning and stepping up next to her.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

Although scientists generally agree that it was associated with aquatic environments, exactly how it moved, hunted, and spent its time remains a subject of debate.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2026

I recently watched with smug satisfaction as OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra model hunted through spreadsheets to reconcile an uncooperative credit card statement and then navigated QuickBooks to make sure it was reflected in the right places.

From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026

Ms. Jeon, by contrast, has a haunted, hunted and withdrawn presence—moving among her family and friends as if her mind and spirit are continually elsewhere.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Sea eagles, also known as white tailed eagles, were hunted to extinction in the UK and the UK's last native white-tailed eagle was shot in Shetland back in 1918, according to the charity.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

He could have killed it easily, but to take it alive was another matter and he hunted it a whole year before he succeeded.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Locals trapped there have resorted to hunting and eating pigeons in recent months, former residents in touch with those in the city told AFP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026

It reminded me of how he had spoken about wanting to believe in the unexplained: “We are all hunting for rational reasons for believing in the absurd.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

By 1650, however, doubts about witch hunting grew and their power started to diminish.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

They demonstrated their hunting prowess which involves trapping animals in netting set up around the jungle.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

“In three days the king will return with his hunting party,” said the miller.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

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Related Words

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