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chase¹

(chās)

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.

1. The act of chasing; pursuit: The police arrested the driver after a wild chase.

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.]

chase²

(chās)

n.
Printing

A rectangular steel or iron frame into which pages or columns of type are locked for printing or plate making.

[Perhaps from French châsse, case, reliquary, from Old French chasse, from Latin capsa.]

chase³

(chās)

a. A groove cut in an object; a slot: the chase for the quarrel on a crossbow.

b. A trench or channel for drainpipes or wiring.

2. The part of a gun in front of the trunnions.

3. The cavity of a mold.

tr.v. chased, chas·ing, chas·es

1. To groove; indent.

2. To cut (the thread of a screw).

3. To decorate (metal) by engraving or embossing.

[Possibly from obsolete French chas, groove, enclosure, from Old French, from Latin capsa, box. V., variant of ENCHASE.]

(click for a larger image)

chase3

floral chase motif on a lipstick case

Chase

(chās), Salmon Portland 1808-1873.

American jurist who served as the chief justice of the US Supreme Court (1864-1873). He presided over the trial of President Andrew Johnson (1868).

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.

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