Library / English Dictionary

HUNT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport

Synonyms:

hunt; hunting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("hunt" is a kind of...):

field sport; outdoor sport (a sport that is played outdoors)

blood sport (sport that involves killing animals (especially hunting))

Domain member category:

drive ((hunting) chase from cover into more open ground)

drive ((hunting) search for game)

bag (capture or kill, as in hunting)

batfowl (catch birds by temporarily blinding them)

ensnare; entrap; snare; trammel; trap (catch in or as if in a trap)

gin (trap with a snare)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hunt"):

battue (a hunt in which beaters force the game to flee in the direction of the hunter)

beagling (hunting rabbits with beagles)

coursing (hunting with dogs (usually greyhounds) that are trained to chase game (such as hares) by sight instead of by scent)

deer hunt; deer hunting (hunting deer)

duck hunting; ducking (hunting ducks)

fox hunting; foxhunt (mounted hunters follow hounds in pursuit of a fox)

pigsticking (the sport of hunting wild boar with spears)

Derivation:

hunt (pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals))

hunt (search (an area) for prey)

hunt (pursue or chase relentlessly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The work of finding and killing or capturing animals for food or pelts

Synonyms:

hunt; hunting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("hunt" is a kind of...):

labor; labour; toil (productive work (especially physical work done for wages))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hunt"):

canned hunt (a hunt for animals that have been raised on game ranches until they are mature enough to be killed for trophy collections)

stalk; stalking; still hunt (a hunt for game carried on by following it stealthily or waiting in ambush)

birdnesting (hunting for birds' nests to get the eggs)

predation (the act of preying by a predator who kills and eats the prey)

Derivation:

hunt (pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals))

hunt (search (an area) for prey)

hunt (pursue or chase relentlessly)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone

Synonyms:

hunt; hunting; search

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("hunt" is a kind of...):

activity (any specific behavior)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hunt"):

shakedown (a very thorough search of a person or a place)

scouring (moving over territory to search for something)

ransacking; rummage (a thorough search for something (often causing disorder or confusion))

quest; seeking (the act of searching for something)

manhunt (an organized search (by police) for a person (charged with a crime))

looking; looking for (the act of searching visually)

frisk; frisking (the act of searching someone for concealed weapons or illegal drugs)

forage; foraging (the act of searching for food and provisions)

exploration (a careful systematic search)

Derivation:

hunt (seek, search for)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An instance of searching for something

Example:

the hunt for submarines

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("hunt" is a kind of...):

search (the examination of alternative hypotheses)

Derivation:

hunt (seek, search for)

Sense 5

Meaning:

An association of huntsmen who hunt for sport

Synonyms:

hunt; hunt club

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("hunt" is a kind of...):

club; gild; guild; lodge; order; social club; society (a formal association of people with similar interests)

Sense 6

Meaning:

British writer who defended the Romanticism of Keats and Shelley (1784-1859)

Synonyms:

Hunt; James Henry Leigh Hunt; Leigh Hunt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

author; writer (writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay))

Sense 7

Meaning:

United States architect (1827-1895)

Synonyms:

Hunt; Richard Morris Hunt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

architect; designer (someone who creates plans to be used in making something (such as buildings))

Sense 8

Meaning:

Englishman and Pre-Raphaelite painter (1827-1910)

Synonyms:

Holman Hunt; Hunt; William Holman Hunt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

Pre-Raphaelite (a painter or writer dedicated to restoring early Renaissance ideals)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals)

Example:

The Duke hunted in these woods

Synonyms:

hunt; hunt down; run; track down

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "hunt" is one way to...):

capture; catch (capture as if by hunting, snaring, or trapping)

Verb group:

run (cause an animal to move fast)

hunt (search (an area) for prey)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hunt"):

forage; scrounge (collect or look around for (food))

fowl (hunt fowl)

falcon (hunt with falcons)

hawk (hunt with hawks)

jack; jacklight (hunt with a jacklight)

foxhunt (hunt foxes, on horseback and with dogs)

course (hunt with hounds)

ferret (hunt with ferrets)

seal (hunt seals)

poach (hunt illegally)

fowl (hunt fowl in the forest)

rabbit (hunt rabbits)

drive ((hunting) search for game)

drive ((hunting) chase from cover into more open ground)

turtle (hunt for turtles, especially as an occupation)

ambush; still-hunt (hunt (quarry) by stalking and ambushing)

whale (hunt for whales)

snipe (hunt or shoot snipe)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The men hunt the area for animals

The men hunt for animals in the area

Derivation:

hunting (the work of finding and killing or capturing animals for food or pelts)

hunting (the pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport)

hunter (someone who hunts game)

hunt (the work of finding and killing or capturing animals for food or pelts)

hunt (the pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Search (an area) for prey

Example:

The King used to hunt these forests

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "hunt" is one way to...):

look; search (search or seek)

Verb group:

hunt; hunt down; run; track down (pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

hunt (the pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport)

hunt (the work of finding and killing or capturing animals for food or pelts)

hunter (someone who hunts game)

hunting (the pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Seek, search for

Example:

She hunted for her reading glasses but was unable to locate them

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "hunt" is one way to...):

look for; search; seek (try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

hunt (the activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone)

hunt (an instance of searching for something)

hunter (a person who searches for something)

hunting (the activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Oscillate about a desired speed, position, or state to an undesirable extent

Example:

The oscillator hunts about the correct frequency

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "hunt" is one way to...):

oscillate; vibrate (move or swing from side to side regularly)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 5

Meaning:

Pursue or chase relentlessly

Example:

the detectives hounded the suspect until they found him

Synonyms:

hound; hunt; trace

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "hunt" is one way to...):

chase; chase after; dog; give chase; go after; tag; tail; track; trail (go after with the intent to catch)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hunt"):

ferret (hound or harry relentlessly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

hunt (the pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport)

hunt (the work of finding and killing or capturing animals for food or pelts)

hunter (someone who hunts game)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Yaw back and forth about a flight path

Example:

the plane's nose yawed

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "hunt" is one way to...):

yaw (deviate erratically from a set course)

Domain category:

aeroplane; airplane; plane (an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sense 7

Meaning:

Chase away, with as with force

Example:

They hunted the unwanted immigrants out of the neighborhood

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "hunt" is one way to...):

drive out; force out; rouse; rout out (force or drive out)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Credits

 Context examples: 

“Ha! Our party is complete,” said Holmes, buttoning up his pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In fact, it is 44 times higher than what Dr Hunt considers safe.

(Humans exposed to far more hormone-disrupting chemicals than thought, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Its location in the sky (as seen from Earth) places it near the Sun - an area of sky not usually scanned by the large ground-based asteroid surveys or NASA's asteroid-hunting NEOWISE spacecraft.

(Newly Discovered Comet Is Likely Interstellar Visitor, NASA)

The two played together, and loved each other with all their hearts, and the old cook went out hunting like a nobleman.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

He would start out early next morning to hunt a job.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Also, they had not expected to winter in the cabin, and the food was running low; nor could Hans add to the supply by hunting.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA), has the potential to inhibit overexpressed cancer-causing genes, and has become an increasing focus for scientists on the hunt for new cancer treatments.

(Nanoparticles used to transport anti-cancer agent to cells, University of Cambridge)

From what I can collect, he left Derbyshire only one day after ourselves, and came to town with the resolution of hunting for them.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I have often wondered since why he should have carried about these shells with him in his wandering, guilty, and hunted life.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“Thank you. You are so kind!” replied the happily deceived aunt, while eagerly hunting for the letter.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)