hunt

Meanings

Verb

• To find or search for an animal in the wild with the intention of killing the animal for its meat or for sport.
• To try to find something; search (for).
• To drive; to chase; with down, from, away, etc.
• To use or manage (dogs, horses, etc.) in hunting.
• To use or traverse in pursuit of game.
• To move or shift the order of (a bell) in a regular course of changes.
• To shift up and down in order regularly.
• To be in a state of instability of movement or forced oscillation, as a governor which has a large movement of the balls for small change of load, an arc-lamp clutch mechanism which moves rapidly up and down with variations of current, etc.; also, to seesaw, as a pair of alternators working in parallel.

Noun

• The act of hunting.
• A hunting expedition.
• An organization devoted to hunting, or the people belonging to it.
• A pack of hunting dogs.

Origin

• From Middle English hunten, from Old English huntian ("to hunt"), from Proto-Germanic *huntōną ("to hunt, capture"), from Proto-Indo-European *kend- ("to catch, seize"). Related to Old High German hunda ("booty"), Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 ("body of captives"), Old English hūþ ("plunder, booty, prey"), Old English hentan ("to catch, seize"). More at hent, hint.
• In some areas read as a collective form of hound by folk etymology.