Showing results for "pursuing"

• 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

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Etymology

Origin of pursuing

pursu(e) ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

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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

See Examples For:

pursuing

From his perspective, the merger would roll up his business interests into a tidy ball—something he has been pursuing for decades.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

Co-author Bingjie Zhou contributed to the research while pursuing a Ph.D. at the Friedman School.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

With Holmes serving an 11-year federal prison sentence in Texas, Evans is raising their children while pursuing a new biotech venture of his own.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

I was told to keep pursuing the very process that I knew was not being conducted in accordance with the law.

From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2026

She saw herself as a woman of the world, and she encouraged William to keep pursuing her sister.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

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