hunt

hunt¹ [hʌnt] v

[: Old English; Origin: huntian]

1.) [I and T]

to chase animals and birds in order to kill or catch them

▪ the slopes where I hunted deer as a kid

▪ Wolves tend to hunt in packs (=hunt in groups) .

2.)

to look for someone or something very carefully

= ↑search hunt for

▪ The kids were hunting for shells on the beach.

▪ Detectives are busy hunting for clues.

3.) [I and T]

to search for and try to catch a criminal or someone who is your enemy

▪ The police are still hunting the killer.

hunt for

▪ The FBI were called in to hunt for the spy.

4.) [I and T] [i]BrE

to hunt ↑foxes as a sport, riding on horses and using dogs

hunt down [hunt sb/sth<=>down] phr v

to search for a person or animal until you catch them, especially in order to punish or kill them

▪ The government agency was created to hunt down war criminals.

hunt out [hunt sb/sth<=>out] phr v

1.) to search for someone or something in order to catch, kill, or destroy them

▪ The plane was on a mission to hunt out enemy submarines.

2.) to search for and find something that you need or want, but which is difficult to find

▪ In the school library he hunted out books on politics.

hunt ²

hunt² n

1.) an occasion when people chase animals in order to kill or catch them

lion/rhino/stag etc hunt

2.) [usually singular]

a search for someone or something that is difficult to find

hunt for

▪ the hunt for the missing child

the hunt is on

(=used to say that people have started looking for someone or something)

murder hunt

(=a search for a person who has killed someone)

have a hunt around for sth

BrE informal (=look for something)

▪ I'll have a hunt around for it in my desk.

→↑treasure hunt, ↑witch-hunt

3.) a sporting event in Britain in which people ride on horses and hunt ↑foxes using dogs

4.) in Britain, a group of people who regularly hunt ↑foxes together