Main Entry: ¹haunt

Pronunciation: \ˈhȯnt, ˈhänt\

Function: verb

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French hanter, probably from Old Norse heimta to lead home, pull, claim, from heimr home

Date: 14th century

transitive verb 1 a : to visit often : frequent b : to continually seek the company of
2 a : to have a disquieting or harmful effect on : trouble <problems we ignore now will come back to haunt us> b : to recur constantly and spontaneously to <the tune haunted her> c : to reappear continually in <a sense of tension that haunts his writing>
3 : to visit or inhabit as a ghostintransitive verb 1 : to stay around or persist : linger
2 : to appear habitually as a ghost

— haunt·er noun

— haunt·ing·ly \ˈhȯn-tiŋ-lē, ˈhän-\ adverb