pursuer
AmericanEtymology
Origin of pursuer
Explanation
A pursuer is someone who is chasing someone or something. You could be a pursuer of truth and beauty, or perhaps a pursuer of the kid who took your lunch money. To pursue is to chase something, like a dog pursuing a squirrel. In that situation, the dog is a pursuer. Someone who’s trying to ask someone else out on a date is a pursuer. When the police are on a manhunt for a criminal, the police are pursuers. You could also say someone is a pursuer of a goal, like a pursuer of a medical degree. All pursuers want something and they're going after it.
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.
And was actually 0.125secs faster than Verstappen, his closest pursuer, in the final sector.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2025
Indiana State: The loss re-opens the race atop the conference, with Drake the Sycamores’ closest pursuer.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 13, 2024
He had a 63-yard touchdown in which he started inside, broke outside and showed speed to run away from his pursuer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
The basic story is somewhat like “The Terminator,” with villain and pursuer emerging from the past rather than the future.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
Kabbadi, a game similar to tag, involves the pursuer repeatedly chanting the word kabbadi in an uninterrupted stream without a breath while trying to tag someone.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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.
