hunt
noun · verb
Simple meaning
To find or search for an animal in the wild with the intention of killing the animal for its meat or for sport.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
huhntIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhʌnt
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The work of finding and killing or capturing animals for food or pelts
The pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport
The act of hunting.
An organization devoted to hunting, or the people belonging to it.
One of 254 counties in Texas, United States. County seat: Greenville.
Former name of McFarland, California.
verb
ambitransitive
Seek, search for
“She hunted for her reading glasses but was unable to locate them.”
ambitransitive
Search (an area) for prey
“The King used to hunt these forests.”
ambitransitive
To find or search for an animal in the wild with the intention of killing the animal for its meat or for sport.
ambitransitive
To try to find something; search (for).
transitive
To drive; to chase; with down, from, away, etc.
transitive
To use or traverse in pursuit of game.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The work of finding and killing or capturing animals for food or pelts
Used this way, hunt is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- hunt club , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Seekverb
“She hunted for her reading glasses but was unable to locate them.”
Searchverb
“The King used to hunt these forests.”
More ways to use hunt
- “Her uncle will go out and hunt for deer, now that it is open season.”verb
- “The little girl was hunting for shells on the beach.”verb
- “He hunts the woods, or the country.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Someone who hunts game.
The pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A person who is hunted.
Group that supports itself by hunting and fishing and by gathering wild fruits and vegetables.
Group that supports itself by hunting and fishing and by gathering wild fruits and vegetables.
A short whip with a thong at the end and a handle for opening gates.
A dog used in hunting game.
An overland journey by hunters (especially in Africa).
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Someone who hunts game.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: seek or search for
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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.