hunt

1 verb

1 (I, T) to chase animals and birds in order to catch and kill them: At one time man had to hunt to survive. | hunt sth: hunting big game in Kenya

2 (I) to look hard for something you have lost: We've been hunting for the car keys for the last half-hour.

3 (I, T) BrE to hunt foxes (fox1 (1)) as a sport, riding on horses and using dogs

4 (T) to search for and try to catch someone, especially a criminal: Police are hunting the killer.

hunt sb/sth down phrasal verb (T) to catch someone in order to kill, hurt, or punish them, after chasing them or trying very hard to catch them hunt sb/sth out phrasal verb (T)

1 to search for someone in order to catch or get rid of them: Military Police were ordered to hunt out subversives.

2 to look for something that you have not used or seen for a long time: I must try and hunt out that old tennis racket

2 noun

1 (C) an occasion when people chase animals in order to catch and kill them: a tiger hunt

2 (singular) a search for someone or something that is difficult to find: the hunt for: the hunt for the remains of the Titanic | the hunt is on (=used to say that people have started looking for someone or something) | have a hunt around for informal (=look for something): I'll have a hunt around for it in my desk.

3 (C) an organized sporting event in Britain in which people riding on horses hunt foxes (fox1 (1)) using dogs

4 (C) BrE a group of people who regularly hunt foxes (fox1 (1)) together