quest
- a search or pursuit made in order to find or obtain something: a quest for uranium mines; a quest for knowledge.
- Medieval Romance. an adventurous expedition undertaken by a knight or knights to secure or achieve something: the quest of the Holy Grail.
- those engaged in such an expedition.
- British Dialect. inquest.
- Obsolete. a jury of inquest.
- to search; seek (often followed by for or after): to quest after hidden treasure.
- to go on a quest.
- Hunting. (of a dog)
- to search for game.
- to bay or give tongue in pursuit of game.
- to search or seek for; pursue.
Origin of quest
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words
moangrowlgroanyelpwailroarwhimperhootoutcryshriekgrillsearchchallengeinterrogatequizinvestigateinterviewqueryseekexamineExamples from the Web for quested
Historical Examples
He had quested for the difference with his ear,—and the difference lay in the feel of the sound.
The Yellow HordeHal G. Evarts
Well, then, Paris had quested forth to find and win the most beautiful of women.
SuperwomenAlbert Payson Terhune
They shrank down in fear, and quested anxiously about with their eyes for a way of retreat.
Before AdamJack London
Failing in many attempts to open them, he quested food, found it, and consoled himself with it.
Futuria Fantasia, Fall 1939Ray Bradbury
Yet it was possible that those in the catacombs were unaware how Scotland Yard, night and day, quested for Mr. King.
The Yellow ClawSax Rohmer
quest
- the act or an instance of looking for or seeking; searcha quest for diamonds
- (in medieval romance) an expedition by a knight or company of knights to accomplish some prescribed task, such as finding the Holy Grail
- the object of a search; goal or targetmy quest is the treasure of the king
- rare a collection of alms
- (foll by for or after) to go in search (of)
- to go on a quest
- (of gun dogs or hounds)
- to search for game
- to bay when in pursuit of game
- rare to collect alms
- (also tr) archaic to go in search of (a thing); seek or pursue
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for quested
quest
n.
c.1300, "an inquest;" early 14c., "a search for something" (especially of judicial inquiries or hounds seeking game), from Old French queste "search, quest, chase, hunt, pursuit; inquest, inquiry" (12c., Modern French quête), properly "the act of seeking," and directly from Medieval Latin questa "search, inquiry," alteration of Latin quaesitus (fem. quaesita) "sought-out, select," past participle of quaerere "seek, gain, ask" (see query (n.)). Romance sense of "adventure undertaken by a knight" (especially the search for the Grail) is attested from late 14c. Johnson's dictionary has questmonger "Starter of lawsuits or prosecutions."
quest
v.
mid-14c., "to seek game, hunt," from quest (n.) and from Old French quester "to search, hunt," from queste (n.). Related: Quested; questing.
Idioms and Phrases with quested
quest
see under in search of.