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
A master of disguise, an evil genius with plenty of tricks up his wings and a relentless pursuer of retribution, Feathers McGraw nests among cinema’s great villains without ever having crooned a single chirp.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2024
Her time was 16 minutes, 57.6 seconds, more than 30 seconds faster than her next closest pursuer.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 30, 2024
His closest pursuer was Andrew Novak, who was 5 under through nine holes.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 8, 2024
They would allow no woman to be forced to marry against her will they told the newcomers, nor would they surrender any suppliant, no matter how feeble, and no matter how powerful the pursuer.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
