# hunt

Pronunciation: say "HUNT" /hʌnt/

## Verb

1. To search for and pursue wild animals in order to kill them for food or sport, or to search an area of land for such animals.
   - Simple: To look for and chase wild animals for food or sport, sometimes searching a particular area.
   - _Indigenous communities have hunted caribou across these lands for generations._
   - _Licensed sportsmen hunt elk in the mountains every fall._
3. To search carefully or persistently in an effort to find something.
   - Simple: To look hard for something you want to find.
   - _Detectives hunted for clues among the wreckage of the car._
   - _Reporters hunt for stories wherever they can find them._
4. To chase or drive a person or animal, typically to capture or expel them.
   - Simple: To chase someone or something to catch them or drive them away.
   - _The angry crowd hunted the pickpocket through the market until a guard caught him._
   - _Bounty hunters hunt fugitives across state lines for the reward._
6. To use or manage dogs, horses, and similar animals in the course of a hunt.
   - Simple: To control and use dogs or horses for hunting.
   - _Skilled huntsmen hunt their hounds with quiet signals and a few calls._
   - _He hunted the pack across three counties during the long season._

## Noun

2. An act or organized outing of pursuing and killing wild animals for food or sport.
   - Simple: A time when people go out to chase and kill wild animals.
   - _The morning hunt yielded two pheasants and a hare._
   - _Wolves work together during the hunt, chasing a deer until it tires._
7. A formal organization devoted to hunting, or the members who belong to it.
   - Simple: A group of people who join together to hunt animals.
   - _The hunt gathered at the manor before riding out at dawn._
   - _Several local hunts merged to share the cost of their kennels._
5. An effort to find a person or thing, typically one that is thorough or goes on for a long time.
   - Simple: A search for a person or thing, often a long or careful one.
   - _Police have launched a nationwide hunt for the escaped prisoner._
   - _Her hunt for an affordable apartment dragged on all summer._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A pack of dogs kept and trained for the pursuit of game.
- (verb) To oscillate unstably, swinging back and forth around a target value instead of settling, as a governor or control mechanism does under varying load.
- (verb) In change ringing, to move a bell, or of a bell to move, one place at a time up and down through the ringing order.

## Origin

Old English huntian ("to hunt") came from *huntōn, a Proto-West Germanic verb meaning "to hunt, capture," which possibly goes back to *ḱent- ("to catch, seize") in Proto-Indo-European. It became Middle English hunten. Related Old English words include hūþ ("plunder, booty, prey") and hentan ("to catch, seize").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/hunt (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).