hunt

B1 Topic:Actions & Processes

Also spelled huntin

US /hʌnt/ See IPA manual

Freq #2115

Meanings

1

verb
To chase and kill wild animals for food or sport.

In the past, people hunted deer in these forests.
2

verb
To search carefully for something or someone.

I hunted everywhere for my reading glasses.
3

noun
An act of searching for something.

The hunt for the missing child lasted three days.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to chase and kill wild... chase

2 verb · to search carefully for... search seek

3 noun · an act of searching for... search

Word family

Forms huntedhunts

Derived forms book-huntbookhunterbowhunthead-huntheadhunthouse-hunthunt-and-peckhuntablehuntedhunteehunterhunteress

Appears in

Phrases (1)

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hunt a killer
to actively search for a murderer who has not yet been caught

Verb + noun

Idioms (1)

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that dog don't hunt
that explanation, proposal, or excuse is unconvincing or ineffective

Proverbs (1)

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The hunt is better than the kill

Etymology

From Middle English hunten, from Old English huntian (“to hunt”), from Proto-West Germanic *huntōn (“to hunt, capture”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ḱent- (“to catch, seize”). Related to Old High German hunda (“booty”), Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (hunþs, “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.

hunten Middle English huntian Old English *huntōn Proto-West Germanic *ḱent- Proto-Indo-European

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# hunt

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /hʌnt/
**Frequency rank:** 2115

## Meanings
1. To chase and kill wild animals for food or sport.
2. To search carefully for something or someone.
3. An act of searching for something.

## Examples
- In the past, people hunted deer in these forests.
- I hunted everywhere for my reading glasses.
- The hunt for the missing child lasted three days.

## Derived Forms
- book-hunt
- bookhunter
- bowhunt
- head-hunt
- headhunt
- house-hunt
- hunt-and-peck
- huntable
- hunted
- huntee
- hunter
- hunteress

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: hunten
- Root: huntian
- Root: *huntōn
- Root: *ḱent-

## Etymology
From Middle English hunten, from Old English huntian (“to hunt”), from Proto-West Germanic *huntōn (“to hunt, capture”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ḱent- (“to catch, seize”). Related to Old High German hunda (“booty”), Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (hunþs, “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.

## AI Etymology
Hunt comes from Middle English hunten, from Old English huntian (“to hunt”), from Proto-West Germanic *huntōn (“to hunt, capture”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ḱent- (“to catch, seize”). Related to Old High German hunda (“booty”), Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (hunþs, “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. In current use, the main senses are “To chase and kill wild animals for food or sport” and “To search carefully for something or someone”.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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hunt

Meanings

Verb forms

Thesaurus

Appears in

Phrases (1)

Idioms (1)

Proverbs (1)

Etymology

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