Showing Results for "pursuing"

See Also:

• present participle of pursue.

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

Pursuing a latter-day version will do no better.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

Pursuing a promotion should be an ongoing discussion, not a one-time ask.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 22, 2025

Pursuing a dream with no effort isn’t as easy as it sounds.

From Barron's • Dec. 12, 2025

After the greetings, Trump and Putin sat down in front of a gaggle of reporters at Elmendorf Air Force Base, under a banner that read "Pursuing Peace".

From BBC • Aug. 16, 2025

Pursuing it, he surveyed the town, wandered about in the maze of streets, stood still in places, and rested on the stone steps to the river.

From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse