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hunt down

B1 neutral separable transitive
In simple words

Find someone or something after a long, determined search — especially a criminal or fugitive.

Literal meaning: To hunt (pursue as prey) and bring down — a transparent hunting metaphor.

Meanings

1 B1 neutral

To pursue and capture or confront a person after a determined search.

"The authorities vowed to hunt down every person responsible for the attack."

"We will hunt down those responsible."

— George W. Bush, address to the nation following the September 11 attacks, 2001
Grammar: separable
2 B1 neutral

To search persistently for an object, piece of information, or item until it is found.

"She hunted down a first edition of the book after years of searching."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Very common in news, crime fiction, and everyday speech. Often used in contexts of law enforcement, military operations, or determined personal searches. Can be used of objects as well as people. The object can come between 'hunt' and 'down': 'hunt him down'.

Commonly used with

criminal fugitive killer suspect information bargain

Forms

Base
hunt down
I/you/we/they
3rd person
hunts down
he/she/it
Past simple
hunted down
yesterday
Past participle
hunted down
have + pp
-ing form
hunting down
continuous

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Synonyms

track down chase down run to ground capture apprehend root out

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