hound

¹ American  

[hound] / haʊnd /

noun

1. one of any of several breeds of dogs trained to pursue game either by sight or by scent, especially one with a long face and large drooping ears.

2. Informal. any dog.

3. Slang.

   1. an unpleasant, mean, or despicable person.

   2. a man who chases women; a promiscuous man.

4. Informal. an ardent fan or devotee.

   an autograph hound.

5. one of the pursuers in the game of hare and hounds.

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verb (used with object)

1. to hunt or track with hounds, or as a hound does; pursue.

   Synonyms:

   tail, trail, chase, follow, dog

2. to pursue or harass without respite.

   Her little brother wouldn't stop hounding her.

   Synonyms:

   bully, persecute, annoy, pester

3. to incite (a hound) to pursuit or attack; urge on.

4. Informal. to incite or urge (a person) to do something (often followed byon ).

   The committee has been hounded on by those who want these repairs done immediately.

idioms

1. ride to hounds, to participate in a hunt, whether as a member of the field or of the hunt staff.

2. follow the hounds, to participate in a hunt, especially as a member of the field.

hound ² American  

[hound] / haʊnd /

noun

1. Nautical. either of a pair of fore-and-aft members at the lower end of the head of a mast, for supporting the trestletrees, that support an upper mast at its heel.

2. a horizontal bar or brace, usually one of a pair, for strengthening the running gear of a horse-drawn wagon or the like.

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hound ¹ British  

/ haʊnd /

noun

1. 1. any of several breeds of dog used for hunting

   2. ( in combination )

      an otterhound

      a deerhound

2. a pack of foxhounds, etc

3. a dog, esp one regarded as annoying

4. a despicable person

5. (in hare and hounds) a runner who pursues a hare

6. slang an enthusiast

   an autograph hound

7. short for houndfish See also nursehound

8. to take part in a fox hunt with hounds

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verb

1. to pursue or chase relentlessly

2. to urge on

hound ² British  

/ haʊnd /

noun

1. either of a pair of horizontal bars that reinforce the running gear of a horse-drawn vehicle

2. nautical either of a pair of fore-and-aft braces that serve as supports for a topmast

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hound More Idioms  

1. see run with (the hare, hunt with the hounds).

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Other Word Forms

• hounder
  noun
• houndish
  adjective
• houndlike
  adjective
• houndy
  adjective
• unhounded
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of hound¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English h(o)und, Old English hund; cognate with Dutch hond, Old Norse hundr, Danish, Swedish hund, German Hund, Gothic hunds; akin to Latin canis, Greek kýōn (genitive kynós ), Sanskrit śván (genitive śunas ), Old Irish cú (genitive con ), Welsh ci (plural cwn ), Tocharian A kū, Lithuanian šuõ

Origin of hound²

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English houn(e), hune, from Old Norse hūnn “knob at the top of a masthead”

Explanation

A hound is a type of dog with big floppy ears, mainly used for hunting. To hound someone is to relentlessly pursue or pester them. When Elvis sings, “You ain’t nothing but a hound dog,” he’s referring to both. Hounds are dogs that have traditionally been used for hunting because they are excellent at tracking. Most hounds (like beagles and dachshunds) have drooping, floppy ears. Hounds can also be big and scary like the one Sherlock Holmes investigates in The Hound of the Baskervilles. If people hound, they hunt, too, but just in an annoying way. A man can hound a woman by asking for a date 10 times. A hounding person is persistent and probably annoying.

Example Sentences

He once described himself as “a basset hound with a 25-watt personality.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025

Among typical dog breeds, the great Anglo-French tricolor hound had the strongest signal at 4.7 to 5.7 percent, followed by the Shiloh shepherd at 2.7 percent.

From Science Daily • Nov. 29, 2025

Harley is a rescue hound, of indeterminate but clearly mixed breed, who is given to leaping in the air to snap at moths and making vain but enthusiastic attempts to catch lizards.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 10, 2025

This was not the first time in my uncle’s 30-year incarceration that we’ve had to hound the Florida Department of Corrections for answers about his well-being.

From Salon • Aug. 17, 2025

On the other side of the brick wall I sensed Miss Lilian listening, her head up, like a hound on the scent of some thing.

From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn

Related Words

• annoy
• bother
• goad
• harass
• heckle
• hector
• persecute
• pester
• pursue