pursue

verb

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

Formspursues, pursuing, pursued

6 meanings of pursue

1
verbtransitive
To work hard to get or reach something you want.
Like keeping your eyes on a goal and going after it until you reach it.
She decided to pursue a career in medicine.
They are pursuing better pay for all the workers.
Similarseek, chase, undertake
Oppositeabandon, forgo
Note
2
verbtransitive or intransitive
To chase someone or something quickly, often to catch it.
Like a cat running after a mouse to catch it.
The dog began to pursue the rabbit across the yard.
Police pursued the stolen car down the highway.
Similarchase, hunt, follow, track, stalk
Oppositeflee, avoid
Note
3
verbtransitive
To take part in an activity, a job, or a kind of work.
She wants to pursue music as a full-time job.
He pursued law after finishing college.
Similarpractice, follow
Oppositequit, abandon
4
verbtransitive
To keep following a plan or a way of doing something.
The team chose to pursue a completely new plan.
They pursued the same strategy for several years.
Similarfollow, adopt, take, embrace
Oppositeabandon, reject
5
verbintransitive
To bring a legal case against someone as the prosecutor in court.
The state decided to pursue, so the case went to trial.
Prosecutors chose not to pursue after reviewing the weak evidence.
Similarprosecute
Oppositedefend
Note

Less common meaning

6
verbarchaictransitive
To keep going with something already begun rather than stopping.
Like staying on a path and walking further instead of stopping partway.
He chose to pursue the conversation despite the late hour.
She pursued her tale until everyone in the room had heard it.
Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of pursue apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English pursuen, which came through Anglo-Norman from Latin prōsequor. It is a doublet of prosecute.