hunt

[huhnt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hunt ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

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 by down): They hunted him down and hanged him.

to search for; seek; endeavor to obtain or find (often followed by up or out): to hunt up the most promising candidates for the position.

to search (a place) thoroughly.

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)

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 or after).

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

noun

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.

Origin of hunt

before 1000; (v.) Middle English hunten, Old English huntian, derivative of hunta hunter, akin to hentan to pursue; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the v.

Related formshunt·a·ble, adjectivehunt·ed·ly, adverbout·hunt, verb (used with object)o·ver·hunt, verb (used with object)un·hunt·a·ble, adjectiveun·hunt·ed, adjective

Synonyms for hunt

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hunt ON THESAURUS.COM

1. pursue, track.

Hunt

[huhnt]

noun

(James Henry) Leigh

[lee] /li/, 1784–1859, English essayist, poet, and editor.

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

(William) Holman

[hohl-muh n] /ˈhoʊl mən/, 1827–1910, English painter.

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hunt

Contemporary Examples of hunt

The Federal Duck Stamp Act raised the fee on stamps needed to hunt waterfowl on federal land from $15 to $25.
Nazis, Sunscreen, and Sea Gull Eggs: Congress in 2014 Was Hella Productive
Ben Jacobs
December 29, 2014
Jordanian intelligence played an important role in the hunt that eventually killed Zarqawi in Iraq in 2006.
Did ISIS Shoot Down a Fighter Jet?
Jamie Dettmer, Christopher Dickey
December 24, 2014
A team of cops swarmed the apartment in the hunt for a potential homicide suspect they believed was hiding in the residences.
Worse Than Eric Garner: Cops Who Got Away With Killing Autistic Men and Little Girls
Emily Shire
December 4, 2014
They will also oppose any attempts to hunt grizzlies in their recognized ancestral homelands.
What It Takes to Kill a Grizzly Bear
Doug Peacock
November 23, 2014
Another week, another study declaring the hunt for the ‘gay gene’ over.
The Problematic Hunt for a ‘Gay Gene’
Samantha Allen
November 20, 2014

Historical Examples of hunt

But mostly they hunt for this Andrew Lanning a dozen at a time.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
I am starting on a hunt in darkest Deanery for my cuff links.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus
Jessie Graham Flower
But, when I'm out of this, I'll hunt you down again and I'll plant you full of lead, my son!
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
He did not even lose his high standing because he would not hunt Andrew alone.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
So long as he don't get on my back to hunt other people, I don't care.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald

British Dictionary definitions for hunt

hunt

verb

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

(intr often foll by for) 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, etcto hunt a pack of hounds

(tr) to search or draw (country) to hunt wild animals, game, etcto hunt the parkland

(tr often foll by down) to track or chase diligently, esp so as to captureto 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

in the hunt informal having a chance of successthat result keeps us in the hunt See also hunt down, hunt up

Derived Formshuntedly, adverb

Word Origin for hunt

Old English huntian; related to Old English hentan, Old Norse henda to grasp

Hunt

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hunt

Old English huntian "chase game," related to hentan "to seize," from Proto-Germanic *huntojan (cf. Gothic hinþan "to seize, capture," Old High German hunda "booty"), from PIE *kend-.

General sense of "search diligently" (for anything) is first recorded c.1200. Related: Hunted; hunting. Happy hunting-grounds "Native American afterlife paradise" is from "Last of the Mohicans" (1826).

early 12c., from hunt (v.). Meaning "body of persons associated for the purpose of hunting with a pack of hounds" is first recorded 1570s.

Idioms and Phrases with hunt

hunt

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

hunt

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

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Origin of hunt

Synonyms for hunt

Hunt

noun

Examples from the Web for hunt

Contemporary Examples of hunt

Historical Examples of hunt

hunt

verb

noun

Word Origin for hunt

Hunt

noun

hunt