pursuing

American  

[per-soo-ing] / pərˈsu ɪŋ /

adjective

1. following someone or something in order to overtake, capture, woo, etc..

   Informed via radio that the alleged crime concerned an unpaid bill, the pursuing officers took down the vehicle's license plate information and stopped the chase.

2. continuing to accompany or affect someone, as success, bad luck, or fame.

   They renewed their love, were once more torn apart by pursuing misfortune, but in the end were happily reunited.

3. following or seeming to follow someone or something with one’s eyes, voice, thoughts, etc..

   He stared fearfully at the pursuing eyes of a portrait on the wall.

4. following or coming immediately after; ensuing.

   The program focuses on core courses in the first semester, and allows students to take their electives in the pursuing two semesters.

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Other Word Forms

• unpursuing
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pursuing

pursu(e) ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Explanation

When someone is described as pursuing, they are following or chasing another person (or thing) with the intent to catch. The pursuing player in a game of "tag" is "it," or the one doing the chasing. During a traditional English fox hunt, the barking dogs are the pursing animals, and the foxes are the ones being hunted. And during a typical cops-and-robbers chase, the pursuing officers are the ones in the police car with the siren blaring, racing after the getaway car. Pursuing and its related verb pursue come from the Latin prosequi, "follow or follow after."

Example Sentences

"The deep irony is that this bootstrap idea that we're pursuing now with modern tools and modern ideas is super retro. It's an old idea," Cheung explains.

From Science Daily • May 19, 2026

But he added they also would not have occurred without asking and pursuing answers to questions ourselves, and encountering unexpected information or results that AI systems might not relay.

From BBC • May 18, 2026

While many quantum firms use de-SPACs for faster market access, Quantinuum is pursuing an IPO, bucking the sector’s trend.

From Barron's • May 14, 2026

Once the New York branch was established, a leading officer in China requested that Lu assist her in pursuing a Chinese political dissident who was in California.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026

That left them vulnerable once more to Union patrols that were pursuing them.

From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson