manhunt
Americannoun
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manhunts
plural
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an intensive search for a criminal, suspect, escaped convict, etc., as by law enforcement agencies.
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an intensive search for any person.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of manhunt
Explanation
When police assemble a team to search for a criminal, it's called a manhunt, even if the person they're looking for is a woman. After an armed bank robbery or a prison escape is reported, the local police department sometimes launches a manhunt to search for the perpetrator. The crime that's been committed has to be fairly serious to result in a manhunt, because it requires extra officers. In some cases, the FBI might even get involved in a manhunt.
Vocabulary lists containing manhunt
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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:
He was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9 following a tip from staff at a McDonald's restaurant, after a days-long manhunt.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
A manhunt is under way after a prisoner escaped from a van taking him to a court appearance.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
A manhunt involving helicopters and officers from several German states was under way across the capital on Sunday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
He then fled on an E-bike, prosecutors said, kicking off a dayslong manhunt that ended with Mangione’s arrest at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Penn.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
With his simple plan, Jones foiled the whole manhunt for John Wilkes Booth.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
The case was led by a celebrated detective who had solved the Cannock Chase murders in Staffordshire - one of the biggest manhunts in British criminal history - Det Ch Supt Pat Molloy.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Hundreds of police have pursued Freeman through the region's rugged terrain over the past seven months, pouring resources into one of Australia's largest manhunts.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
The bureau spared no resources in finding the culprit, using powerful digital tools that produced a sea of information so detailed that it surprised even longtime investigators who were no strangers to complicated manhunts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025
Last year, several communities across the country were gripped by high-profile manhunts that grew to involve hundreds of law enforcement officers, stirring anxiety in areas where escapees were thought to be hiding.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2024
What good did it do to know that the Lhari council in another galaxy would have condemned the murders and manhunts, when they were going on in this one, day after day?
From The Colors of Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley
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.
