hunt Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun Englishman and Pre-Raphaelite painter (1827-1910)
    William Holman Hunt; Holman Hunt.
  2. noun United States architect (1827-1895)
    Richard Morris Hunt.
  3. noun British writer who defended the Romanticism of Keats and Shelley (1784-1859)
    Leigh Hunt; James Henry Leigh Hunt.
  4. noun an association of huntsmen who hunt for sport
    hunt club.
  5. noun an instance of searching for something
    • the hunt for submarines
  6. noun the activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone
    search; hunting.
  7. noun the work of finding and killing or capturing animals for food or pelts
    hunting.
  8. noun the pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport
    hunting.
  9. verb pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals)
    hunt down; run; track down.
    • Goering often hunted wild boars in Poland
    • The dogs are running deer
    • The Duke hunted in these woods
  10. verb pursue or chase relentlessly
    hound; trace.
    • The hunters traced the deer into the woods
    • the detectives hounded the suspect until they found him
  11. verb chase away, with as with force
    • They hunted the unwanted immigrants out of the neighborhood
  12. verb yaw back and forth about a flight path
    • the plane's nose yawed
  13. verb oscillate about a desired speed, position, or state to an undesirable extent
    • The oscillator hunts about the correct frequency
  14. verb seek, search for
    • She hunted for her reading glasses but was unable to locate them
  15. verb search (an area) for prey
    • The King used to hunt these forests

WordNet

Hunt transitive verb
Etymology
AS. huntian to hunt; cf. hentan to follow, pursue, Goth. hinan (in comp.) to seize. Cf. Hent.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Hunted; present participle & verbal noun Hunting
Definitions
  1. To search for or follow after, as game or wild animals; to chase; to pursue for the purpose of catching or killing; to follow with dogs or guns for sport or exercise; as, to hunt a deer.
    Like a dog, he hunts in dreams. Tennyson.
  2. To search diligently after; to seek; to pursue; to follow; -- often with out or up; as, to hunt up the facts; to hunt out evidence.
    Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him. Ps. cxl. 11.
  3. To drive; to chase; -- with down, from, away, etc.; as, to hunt down a criminal; he was hunted from the parish.
  4. To use or manage in the chase, as hounds.
    He hunts a pack of dogs. Addison.
  5. To use or traverse in pursuit of game; as, he hunts the woods, or the country.
Hunt intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To follow the chase; to go out in pursuit of game; to course with hounds.
    Esau went to the field to hunt for venison. Gen. xxvii. 5.
  2. To seek; to pursue; to search; -- with for or after.
    He after honor hunts, I after love. Shak.
    Shak.
Hunt noun
Definitions
  1. The act or practice of chasing wild animals; chase; pursuit; search.
    The hunt is up; the morn is bright and gray. Shak.
  2. The game secured in the hunt. Obs. Shak.
  3. A pack of hounds. Obs.
  4. An association of huntsmen.
  5. A district of country hunted over.
    Every landowner within the hunt. London Field.

Webster 1913