DictionaryAI

pursue

verb
pur-SOO/pɚˈsu/UKpuh-SYOO/pəˈsjuː/AUSpuh-SHOO/pəˈʃu/

Formspursues, pursuing, pursued

6 meanings of pursue

Practice

  1. 1
    verbtransitive
    To aim for and actively work toward a particular goal, situation, or outcome.

    Many graduates pursue advanced degrees before entering the workforce.

    The company pursued an aggressive expansion strategy across overseas markets.

    Similarseek, chase, undertake

    Oppositeabandon, forgo

    Note

    Here the object is the destination rather than the road. You pursue peace, a degree or a career as a goal you have not yet reached. That sets it apart from the "follow a course" meaning, where the object is the route you take: a policy, an approach, a line of inquiry. Asking "is this the end or the way?" usually settles which one is meant.

  2. 2
    verbtransitive or intransitive
    To follow someone or something urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase.

    Wolves pursue their prey across miles of open tundra.

    The cavalry pursued the retreating enemy deep into the hills.

    Similarchase, hunt, follow, track, stalk

    Oppositeflee, avoid

    Note

    The chase itself, and the sense with a hidden legal twin. The word came through Anglo-Norman from Latin prōsequor, the same source that gave English prosecute. It can stand without an object, as in the King James Bible of 1611: "The wicked flee when no man pursueth." Today it usually takes one: police pursue a suspect, hounds pursue a fox.

  3. 3
    verbtransitive
    To take part in an activity or business, or to practice and follow a profession.

    Few of them pursue farming as a livelihood these days.

    After the war, he pursued medicine in a small rural town.

    Similarpractice, follow

    Oppositequit, abandon

  4. 4
    verbtransitive
    To follow or travel down a particular course of action, path, or method.

    Management decided to pursue a more cautious approach this quarter.

    The negotiators pursued a diplomatic course rather than open threats.

    Similarfollow, adopt, take, embrace

    Oppositeabandon, reject

  5. 5
    verbintransitive
    To act as the prosecutor bringing a legal action against an accused party.

    The advocate elected to pursue before the High Court.

    Counsel for the Crown pursued vigorously throughout the trial.

    Similarprosecute

    Oppositedefend

    Note

    In this sense the word sits closest to its twin, prosecute. Both come from Latin prōsequor, a story told under the chase. It is used without an object: counsel pursues before a court, rather than pursuing someone. That keeps it distinct from going after a person, even though the courtroom sense and the chase share their roots.

Less common meaning

  1. 6
    verbarchaictransitive
    To continue or carry on with something already under way.

    Let us pursue the argument a little further before we rest.

    The traveler pursued his account of distant lands well into the night.

    Note

    A storyteller's verb with an old-fashioned ring. It marks speech or narrative that picks up where it left off. Richard Francis Burton's Vikram and the Vampire (1870) has "'Allow me, great king,' pursued the Demon," where a modern writer would put continued or went on. As a speech tag it now reads as period style, and continued is the safer everyday choice.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English pursuen, taken from Anglo-Norman pursure or poursuire, from Latin prōsequor (though influenced by persequor). It is a doublet of prosecute.