hunting
noun
Simple meaning
The pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
huhntingSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhʌntɪŋ
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 pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport
The work of finding and killing or capturing animals for food or pelts
The act of finding and killing a wild animal, either for sport or with the intention of using its parts to make food, clothes, etc.
The act of looking for something, especially for a job or flat.
telephony
The process of determining which of a group of telephone lines will receive a call.
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 pursuit and killing or capture of wild animals regarded as a sport
Used this way, hunting is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a sporting use: familiar to anyone who follows the game, and puzzling to anyone who does not.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Sports
- News/reporting
- Everyday conversation
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use hunting
- “The little girl was hunting for shells on the beach.”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.
Pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals).
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
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).
A place where opportunities abound.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A member of a hunting and gathering society.
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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.