hunted; hunting; hunts
1
a
: to pursue for food or in sport
hunt buffalo
b
: to manage in the search for game
hunts a pack of dogs
2
a
: to pursue with intent to capture
hunted the escapees
b
: to search out : seek
3
: to drive or chase especially by harrying
members … were hunted from their homes—
J. T. Adams
J. T. Adams4
: to traverse in search of prey
hunts the woods
1
: to take part in a hunt
2
: to attempt to find something
3
: to oscillate alternately to each side (as of a neutral point) or to run alternately faster and slower
—used especially of a device or machine
Synonyms
Examples of hunt in a Sentence
Verb
The wolf was hunting its prey.
These birds have been hunted almost to extinction.
a gun used for hunting squirrels
He likes to hunt and fish.
She hunted around in the closet for a pair of shoes.
Police hunted the escaped prisoners through several states.
Noun
They went on a hunt.
We finally found a good restaurant after a long hunt.
Recent Examples on the WebKris Millgate, Field & Stream, 11 Apr. 2024
The agency charged Douglas with two violations each of hunting in a closed season, illegally tagging big game, failure to retrieve big game, and tagging violations.
—Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 10 Apr. 2024
As food price inflation starts to ease, supermarkets are trying to keep prices as low as possible to retain shoppers hunting for cheaper alternatives.
—Jennifer Creery, Fortune Europe, 10 Apr. 2024
Hiding is important during the day, considering that the indigenous people of New Guinea often hunt these cute critters for their black and white pelts.
—Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 8 Apr. 2024
One Florida policyholder hunting for a new insurer said he was quoted an annual premium of $7,200 for a policy that currently cost him just $2,200.
—Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2024
Germany -- one of the European Union's largest importers of hunting trophies -- proposed introducing stricter limits on the imports of hunting trophies, citing concerns over poaching.
—Emma Ogao, ABC News, 4 Apr. 2024
Germany is one of the E.U.'s largest importers of hunting trophies.
—Mithil Aggarwal, NBC News, 3 Apr. 2024
Masisi told Bild that Germany’s Green party could learn to cohabitate with elephants without hunting them.
—Nadine Schmidt, Sarah Dean and Ingrid Formanek, CNN, 3 Apr. 2024
Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 14 Apr. 2024
Lucy joins up with the Ghoul/Cooper on his hunt for Hank, and Maximus survives a grisly bullet wound.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 12 Apr. 2024
His Justice Department opened what became another special counsel investigation in an unsuccessful hunt for evidence proving that notion, including trying but failing to find a basis to charge former top intelligence officials with crimes.
—Alan Feuer, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Deploying drones and other remote sensing technologies could hasten the hunt.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 11 Apr. 2024
This progress began in Mesopotamia with a hunt for periodic patterns in historical data.
—Joshua Sokol, Quanta Magazine, 5 Apr. 2024
Melissa Blessing’s family’s annual Easter egg hunt includes eggs and… lottery tickets.
—Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 4 Apr. 2024
Oppenheimer and Barbie proved last year that the parameters around the Oscar race are less rigid, and that early-season releases have just as much (if not a better) standing in the hunt for Academy Awards as those that drop in November and December.
—Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 4 Apr. 2024
Sperm whales search for their food in deep waters – their hunts regularly reach 2,000 feet below the ocean surface and last for 45 minutes.
—Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2024
Verb
Conservation officers from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks cited one of the agency’s own leaders recently—commissioner Leonard Bentz—for illegally hunting turkeys over bait at the end of March.
—Kris Millgate, Field & Stream, 11 Apr. 2024
The agency charged Douglas with two violations each of hunting in a closed season, illegally tagging big game, failure to retrieve big game, and tagging violations.
—Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 10 Apr. 2024
As food price inflation starts to ease, supermarkets are trying to keep prices as low as possible to retain shoppers hunting for cheaper alternatives.
—Jennifer Creery, Fortune Europe, 10 Apr. 2024
Hiding is important during the day, considering that the indigenous people of New Guinea often hunt these cute critters for their black and white pelts.
—Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 8 Apr. 2024
One Florida policyholder hunting for a new insurer said he was quoted an annual premium of $7,200 for a policy that currently cost him just $2,200.
—Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 8 Apr. 2024
Germany -- one of the European Union's largest importers of hunting trophies -- proposed introducing stricter limits on the imports of hunting trophies, citing concerns over poaching.
—Emma Ogao, ABC News, 4 Apr. 2024
Germany is one of the E.U.'s largest importers of hunting trophies.
—Mithil Aggarwal, NBC News, 3 Apr. 2024
Masisi told Bild that Germany’s Green party could learn to cohabitate with elephants without hunting them.
—Nadine Schmidt, Sarah Dean and Ingrid Formanek, CNN, 3 Apr. 2024
Noun
The hunt for T’Montez Hurt, a 19-year-old college student from St. Louis who went missing in Kansas City in February, brought out nearly a dozen volunteers on Saturday.
—Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 14 Apr. 2024
Lucy joins up with the Ghoul/Cooper on his hunt for Hank, and Maximus survives a grisly bullet wound.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 12 Apr. 2024
His Justice Department opened what became another special counsel investigation in an unsuccessful hunt for evidence proving that notion, including trying but failing to find a basis to charge former top intelligence officials with crimes.
—Alan Feuer, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Deploying drones and other remote sensing technologies could hasten the hunt.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 11 Apr. 2024
This progress began in Mesopotamia with a hunt for periodic patterns in historical data.
—Joshua Sokol, Quanta Magazine, 5 Apr. 2024
Melissa Blessing’s family’s annual Easter egg hunt includes eggs and… lottery tickets.
—Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 4 Apr. 2024
Oppenheimer and Barbie proved last year that the parameters around the Oscar race are less rigid, and that early-season releases have just as much (if not a better) standing in the hunt for Academy Awards as those that drop in November and December.
—Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 4 Apr. 2024
Sperm whales search for their food in deep waters – their hunts regularly reach 2,000 feet below the ocean surface and last for 45 minutes.
—Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hunt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near hunt
Cite this Entry
“Hunt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hunt. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
hunt
1 of 2 verb1
a
: to seek out and chase (game) for food or sport
hunt squirrel
b
: to use in hunting game
hunts a pack of dogs
2
a
: to chase in order to capture
b
: to search out : look for : seek
hunting for my gloves
3
: to drive or chase especially by repeated attacks
hunt a criminal out of town
4
: to search through looking for prey
hunts the woods
hunt
2 of 2 noun1
: the action, the practice, or an instance of hunting
2
: a group of hunters
especially
: a group of hunters on horseback and their hunting dogs
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share