hunt

hunt [hunt]

vt.

[ME hunten < OE huntian, prob. < base of hentan, to seize < ? IE * kend-, var. of * kent- > Goth (fra)hinthan, to seize: see HAND]

1. to go out to kill or catch (game) for food or sport

2. to search eagerly or carefully for; try to find

3.

a) to pursue; chase; drive

b) to hound; harry; persecute

4.

a) to go through (a woods, fields, etc.) in pursuit of game

b) to search (a place) carefully

5. to use (dogs or horses) in chasing game

vi.

1. to go out after game; take part in the chase

2. to search; seek

3. Bell Ringing to change the order of bells in a hunt: cf. HUNT (n. 5)

n.

1. the act of hunting; the chase

2. a group of people who hunt together

3. a district covered in hunting

4. a search

5. Bell Ringing a series of regularly varying sequences in ringing a group of from five to twelve bells

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hunt down

1. to pursue until successful in catching or killing

2. to search for until successful in finding

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hunt up

1. to hunt for; search for

2. to find by searching

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in the hunt

Informal having a chance to win a competition