pursue

[ per-soo ]

/ pərˈsu /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR pursue ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), pur·sued, pur·su·ing.

to follow in order to overtake, capture, kill, etc.; chase.

to follow close upon; go with; attend: Bad luck pursued him.

to strive to gain; seek to attain or accomplish (an end, object, purpose, etc.).

to proceed in accordance with (a method, plan, etc.).

to carry on or continue (a course of action, a train of thought, an inquiry, studies, etc.).

to continue to annoy, afflict, or trouble.

to practice (an occupation, pastime, etc.).

to continue to discuss (a subject, topic, etc.).

to follow: They pursued the river to its source. I felt their eyes pursuing me.

to continue; go on with (one's course, a journey, etc.).

verb (used without object), pur·sued, pur·su·ing.

to chase after someone or something; to follow in pursuit: They spotted the suspect but decided not to pursue.

to continue.

Origin of pursue

1250–1300; Middle English pursuen < Anglo-French pursuer ≪ Latin prōsequī to pursue, follow, continue. See pro-¹, sue, prosecute

SYNONYMS FOR pursue

1 trail, hunt.

2 dog.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR pursue ON THESAURUS.COM

historical usage of pursue

The current spelling of the English verb pursue dates from about 1300. It is one of several former spellings, including perseve, pursiew, pursuwe. The Middle English variants come from Anglo-French and Old French porsure, poursuire, porsivre (with many other spelling variants), ultimately from Latin prōsequi “to attend (with honors or compliments), go in pursuit of, follow with hostile intent, harry, examine or follow up (a subject or topic), continue,” which is the source of English prosecute
The many Latin meanings of prōsequi carry over into Old French and Middle English, and by the end of the Middle English period, the word pursue already had all of its current meanings. On the other hand, the word prosecute originally meant “to follow up, pursue, continue,” but shortly afterward, in the early 16th century, it took on its primary current meaning “to institute legal proceedings.”

OTHER WORDS FROM pursue

pur·su·a·ble, adjective out·pur·sue, verb (used with object), out·pur·sued, out·pur·su·ing. re·pur·sue, verb (used with object), re·pur·sued, re·pur·su·ing. un·pur·su·a·ble, adjective

un·pur·sued, adjective un·pur·su·ing, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH pursue

peruse pursue

Words nearby pursue

purser, purslane, purslane family, pursuance, pursuant, pursue, pursuer, pursuit, pursuit plane, pursuivant, pursy

Example sentences from the Web for pursue

Or (horrors) he could reach out to congressional leaders in both parties to pursue bipartisan legislation.

Obama’s Pot Policy Is Refer Madness |James Poulos |January 5, 2015 |DAILY BEAST
Choosing not to pursue a perpetrator is not admittance of lies or false motives.

The Right's Rape Trolls vs. Lena Dunham |Emily Shire |December 10, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
It was only once he directed and starred in his own short film that he decided to pursue acting as a vocation.

Renaissance Man Jared Leto Defies Categorization |The Daily Beast |December 8, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Around 2005, Drew flew west to pursue a career in acting while Jonathan ran the business in Calgary.

How the Property Brothers Became Your Mom’s Favorite TV Stars |Kevin Fallon |November 25, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

Prosectors decided not to pursue charges against the accused.

The Ten Worst Uber Horror Stories |Olivia Nuzzi |November 19, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
If not we'll walk to that village with the church over there and see if we can get something on wheels to pursue August with.

The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rgen |Elizabeth von Arnim
Our three divisions of the land army continued to pursue their plan for gradually advancing along the causeways.

A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. IV. |Robert Kerr
If we pursue this subject, it will conduct us far beyond the sight of mere temporal punishment.

Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. II |Francis Augustus Cox
On these occasions the house-dogs are very tyrannical, and the least of them will attack and pursue the stranger.

Anecdotes of Dogs |Edward Jesse
He had evidently not decided yet, and was debating in his own mind what course to pursue.

The White Chief |Mayne Reid

British Dictionary definitions for pursue

pursue

/ (pəˈsjuː) /

verb -sues, -suing or -sued (mainly tr)

(also intr) to follow (a fugitive, etc) in order to capture or overtake

(esp of something bad or unlucky) to follow closely or accompany ill health pursued her

to seek or strive to attain (some object, desire, etc)

to follow the precepts of (a plan, policy, etc)

to apply oneself to (one's studies, hobbies, etc)

to follow persistently or seek to become acquainted with

to continue to discuss or argue (a point, subject, etc)

Derived forms of pursue

pursuer, noun

Word Origin for pursue

C13: from Anglo-Norman pursiwer, from Old French poursivre, from Latin prōsequī to follow after

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

pursue

verb (used with object), pur·sued, pur·su·ing.

verb (used without object), pur·sued, pur·su·ing.

Origin of pursue

SYNONYMS FOR pursue

historical usage of pursue

OTHER WORDS FROM pursue

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH pursue

Words nearby pursue

Example sentences from the Web for pursue

British Dictionary definitions for pursue

verb -sues, -suing or -sued (mainly tr)

Derived forms of pursue

Word Origin for pursue

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

pursue

verb (used with object), pur·sued, pur·su·ing.

verb (used without object), pur·sued, pur·su·ing.

Origin of pursue

SYNONYMS FOR pursue

historical usage of pursue

OTHER WORDS FROM pursue

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH pursue

Words nearby pursue

Words related to pursue

Example sentences from the Web for pursue

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for pursue

verb -sues, -suing or -sued (mainly tr)

Derived forms of pursue

Word Origin for pursue

British Dictionary definitions for pursue