hare and hounds

American  

noun

1. an outdoor game in which certain players, the hares, start off in advance on a long run, scattering small pieces of paper, called the scent, with the other players, the hounds, following the trail so marked in an effort to catch the hares before they reach a designated point.

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hare and hounds British  

noun

1. (functioning as singular) a game in which certain players ( hares ) run across country scattering pieces of paper that the other players ( hounds ) follow in an attempt to catch the hares

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Etymology

Origin of hare and hounds

First recorded in 1835–45

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hare and hounds

Here they found the trail very clearly marked, as in the old game of hare and hounds where the point of a new departure is marked by a bunch of cut paper.

From Frontier Boys in Frisco by Wyn Roosevelt

Next in value to these natural outdoor sports come the artificial games; baseball, football, hare and hounds, lawn tennis, croquet, and hockey.

From Practical Ethics by William De Witt Hyde

We had met him once in the park, a horde of children dashing through the shrubbery with loud hurrahs; catch, and hare and hounds, were our favorite games.

From The Children of the World by Paul Heyse

As we know, Sam was an excellent runner, and hare and hounds just suited him.

From The Rover Boys at School by Edward Stratemeyer

"The entire Catholic Church might play hare and hounds with the Holy Father as huntsman and the Cardinals as the whips, through Mr. Buxton's secret labyrinths."

From By What Authority? by Robert Hugh Benson

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