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chase 1 (chās)
Share:
v. chased, chas·ing, chas·es
v. tr.
1. To follow rapidly in order to catch or overtake; pursue: The police officers chased the thief. The dog chased the cat across the yard.
2. To follow (game) in order to capture or kill; hunt: chase foxes.
3. To seek the favor or company of persistently: chased me until I agreed to a date.
4. To put to flight; drive: She chased the rabbits from the garden.
5. Baseball
a. To cause (an opposing pitcher) to be removed from a game by batting well.
b. To swing at and miss (a pitch, especially one out of the strike zone).
v. intr.
1. To go or follow in pursuit: My friends and I chased after the loose dog.
2. Informal To go hurriedly; rush: chased all over looking for us.
n.
1. The act of chasing; pursuit: The police arrested the driver after a wild chase.
2.
a. The hunting of game: the thrill of the chase.
b. Something that is hunted or pursued; quarry: The hunters drove their chase into the open.
3. Chiefly British
a. A privately owned, unenclosed game preserve.
b. The right to hunt or keep game on the land of others.
Idioms:
chase (one's) tail
To exert oneself vigorously but ineffectually.
give chase
To engage in pursuit of quarry: Police gave chase to the speeding car.

[Middle English chasen, to hunt, from Old French chacier, from Vulgar Latin *captiāre, from Latin captāre, to catch; see CATCH.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.