haunt

Formshaunts, haunting, haunted

Pluralhaunts

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To inhabit or repeatedly visit a place, most often said of a ghost or spirit.

   Locals believe a restless spirit haunts the manor's east wing.

   Ghosts are said to haunt the battlefield where so many fell.

   Similarinhabit, frequent

   Note

   The word began with home rather than ghosts. It comes from Middle English haunten, from Old French hanter, 'to frequent', and further back from a Norse or Old English verb meaning 'to bring home'. Ghosts are its most common subject now, yet Shakespeare's speaker objects to a living visitor who will 'still haunt my house', and Swift's cares haunt the court and town. The place is a direct object, with no preposition.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To trouble or disturb someone persistently, as a distressing memory or guilt does.

   Memories of the war haunt the old soldier to this day.

   Guilt over the decision haunted her for years afterward.

   Similartorment, plague, trouble, disturb, obsess

   Note

   Here the thing that haunts is inside the mind: a memory, a failure, a deed. In Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring, the murder of Déagol haunts Gollum the way a ghost haunts a house, coming back uninvited. That image is the link to the ghostly meaning. The past event is usually the subject and the troubled person the object. In the passive, people are haunted by what they did.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A place where someone is regularly found; a favorite spot or hangout.

   The riverside pub remained her favorite haunt for decades.

   He returned to the familiar haunts of his youth.

   Similarhangout, spot, den

   Note

   This is the noun most readers meet, and it has familiar company: old haunts, a popular haunt, a favorite haunt. Old haunts, usually plural, suggests returning and nostalgia. Louisa May Alcott's graduates in Kitty's Class Day 'still took an interest in their old haunts'. The usual pattern is a haunt of someone, and nothing ghostly is implied.

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   To follow or stalk someone persistently, staying close behind.

   A pair of detectives haunted the suspect through the crowded market.

   Paparazzi haunt celebrities from morning until night.

   Similarshadow, stalk, tail, dog, hound

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A lair or feeding ground where animals are regularly found.

   The marsh is a well-known haunt of wading birds.

   Foxes returned to their old haunts at dusk.

   Similarhabitat, territory, lair, range

   Note

   Nature writing uses this noun for wild creatures. Alexander Dow's 1769 Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla describes 'the secret haunts of kids and bounding roes', and Washington Irving's lake is 'the haunt of the solitary bittern'. The pattern is haunt of plus the animal, often with secret or solitary. It covers feeding places as well as dens, which makes it broader than lair.

6. 6
   verbintransitive

   To keep staying in or returning to a place persistently.

   Long after closing, a few regulars still haunt about the bar.

   She haunts near the harbor where she grew up.

   Similarlinger, loiter, hover

   Note

   The visitor in this sense is unwelcome. Othello has the warning 'not to haunt about my doors', with no object, just an adverb of place, describing someone hanging around where they are not wanted. Unlike the archaic 'dwell' verb, it suggests coming back too often rather than living there. About and near are the natural partners.

7. 7
   noundialectalcountable

   The spirit of a dead person; a ghost.

   Villagers claimed a haunt drifted through the churchyard at midnight.

   She feared the haunts that were said to roam the marsh.

   Similarghost, spirit, specter, phantom, spook

   Note

   In this dialect use the noun names the ghost itself, and it sits alongside the variant haint. It belongs in dialogue and regional writing. In standard prose a haunt is usually a place, so a sentence like 'a haunt in the churchyard' can be read two ways. Make the ghostly reading clear from context, or use haint, which only means the spirit.

8. 8
   verbdialectalNorthern EnglandScotlandUKtransitive

   To make a person or animal accustomed to something; to habituate.

   She haunted the puppy to the leash over several weeks.

   Shepherds haunt their dogs to the sound of the whistle.

   Similaraccustom, habituate, train

   Note

   A verb of habit-forming that survives in Scots and northern English dialect: you haunt someone to a thing, making it familiar to them. The construction is old, and Wycliffe's Bible already has 'haunte thi silf to pite'. The person or animal being trained is the object, and to introduces what they grow used to. Outside those regions, listeners will probably hear the ghostly verb instead.

9. 9
   verbdialectalNorthern EnglandScotlandUKtransitive

   To practice an activity regularly and devote oneself to it.

   She haunted her music daily until her fingers ached.

   Village smiths haunt their trade from boyhood.

   Similarpractice, ply, pursue

   Note

   Here the return is to an activity, not a location. A craft or pastime is the object, and you keep going back to it. Roger Ascham's The Scholemaster warns against those who 'haunt no good pastime'. The sense lives on in the same northern speech as the 'accustom' verb. Old French hanter, 'to frequent', explains the shift: to frequent an activity is to practice it.

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