hunt

/hənt/

/hənt/

Other forms: hunting; hunted; hunts

To hunt is to track and kill an animal for fun or food. In Italy, they use pigs to hunt truffles. In the US, they use shotguns to hunt deer.

Some humans hunt animals with a gun or a bow and arrow, and some animals hunt smaller animals — the way a wolf hunts rabbits or a cat hunts birds. You can hunt in a non-lethal way as well, like when you hunt all over your house for your lost car keys, or your little brother hunts for you during a game of hide-and-seek. The Old English root of hunt is huntian, "chase game."

Definitions of hunt

1. verb

   pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals)
   “Goering often hunted wild boars in Poland”

   “The Duke hunted in these woods”

   synonyms: hunt down, run, track down

   run

   cause an animal to move fast

   types:

   snipe

   hunt or shoot snipe

   whale

   hunt for whales

   ambush, still-hunt

   hunt (quarry) by stalking and ambushing

   turtle

   hunt for turtles, especially as an occupation

   drive

   (hunting) chase from cover into more open ground

   drive

   (hunting) search for game

   rabbit

   hunt rabbits

   fowl

   hunt fowl in the forest

   poach

   hunt illegally

   seal

   hunt seals

   ferret

   hunt with ferrets

   course

   hunt with hounds

   foxhunt

   hunt foxes, on horseback and with dogs

   jack, jacklight

   hunt with a jacklight

   hawk

   hunt with hawks

   falcon

   hunt with falcons

   fowl

   hunt fowl

   forage, scrounge

   collect or look around for (food)

   grouse

   hunt grouse

   rustle

   forage food

   type of:

   capture, catch

   capture as if by hunting, snaring, or trapping
2. verb

   search (an area) for prey
   “The King used to hunt these forests”

   synonyms:

   hunt down, run, track down

   pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals)

   type of:

   look, search

   search or seek
3. noun

   an association of huntsmen who hunt for sport
   synonyms: hunt club

   type of:

   club, guild, lodge, order, social club, society

   a formal association of people with similar interests
4. noun

   the work of finding and killing or capturing animals for food or pelts
   synonyms: hunting

   types:

   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

   deerstalking

   stalking deer

   type of:

   labor, labour, toil

   productive work (especially physical work done for wages)
5. noun

   the pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport
   synonyms: hunting

   types:

   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

   type of:

   field sport, outdoor sport

   a sport that is played outdoors

   blood sport

   sport that involves killing animals (especially hunting)
6. verb

   seek, search for
   “She hunted for her reading glasses but was unable to locate them”

   type of:

   look for, search, seek

   try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of
7. noun

   the activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone
   synonyms: hunting, search

   types:

   exploration

   a careful systematic search

   forage, foraging

   the act of searching for food and provisions

   frisk, frisking

   the act of searching someone for concealed weapons or illegal drugs

   looking, looking for

   the act of searching visually

   manhunt

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

   quest, seeking

   the act of searching for something

   ransacking, rummage

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

   scouring

   moving over territory to search for something

   shakedown

   a very thorough search of a person or a place

   strip search

   searching someone for concealed weapons or illegal drugs by having them remove their clothes

   probe

   an exploratory action or expedition

   type of:

   activity

   any specific behavior
8. noun

   an instance of searching for something
   “the hunt for submarines”

   type of:

   search

   the examination of alternative hypotheses
9. verb

   pursue or chase relentlessly
   synonyms: hound, trace

   types:

   ferret

   hound or harry relentlessly

   type of:

   chase, chase after, dog, give chase, go after, tag, tail, track, trail

   go after with the intent to catch
10. verb

    chase away, with as with force
    type of:

    drive out, force out, rouse, rout out

    force or drive out
11. verb

    oscillate about a desired speed, position, or state to an undesirable extent
    “The oscillator hunts about the correct frequency”

    type of:

    oscillate, vibrate

    move or swing from side to side regularly
12. verb

    yaw back and forth about a flight path
    type of:

    yaw

    deviate erratically from a set course