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hound

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A dog, particularly a breed with a good sense of smell developed for hunting other animals.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

hownd
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈhaʊnd

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A dog, particularly a breed with a good sense of smell developed for hunting other animals.

  2. Any canine animal.

  3. Someone who is morally reprehensible

  4. by extension

    A male who constantly seeks the company of desirable women.

  5. A despicable person.

  6. A side bar used to strengthen portions of the running gear of a vehicle.

verb

  1. transitive

    To persistently harass doggedly.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A dog, particularly a breed with a good sense of smell developed for hunting other animals.

Used this way, hound is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Slightly positive
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Positive and appreciative
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use hound

  • “The foxhound is an excellent hound for tracking scents.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Dog / several

hound dogyoung houndblack hound

Male

faithful hound

Other combinations

afghan houndinspector houndpublicity hound

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • hound dognounCompound term

    Any of several breeds of dog used for hunting typically having large drooping ears.

  • hare and houndsnounCompound term

    An outdoor game.

  • ibizan houndnounCompound term

    Breed of slender agile medium-sized hound found chiefly in the Balearic Islands.

  • otter houndnounCompound term

    Hardy British hound having long pendulous ears and a thick coarse shaggy coat with an oily undercoat.

  • plott houndnounCompound term

    A brindle-coated American hound used in hunting bears and wild boars.

  • sausage houndnounCompound term

    Informal term.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • irish wolfhoundnounRelated term

    Large breed of hound with a rough thick coat.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.