Hound

//haʊnd// name, noun, verb

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A small village and civil parish in Eastleigh borough, Hampshire, England (OS grid ref SU4708).
Noun
  1. 1
    A dog, particularly a breed with a good sense of smell developed for hunting other animals.
  2. 2
    Projections located at the masthead or foremast, serving as a support for the trestletrees and top on which to rest; a foretop. in-plural
  3. 3
    any of several breeds of dog used for hunting typically having large drooping ears wordnet
  4. 4
    Any canine animal.
  5. 5
    A side bar used to strengthen portions of the running gear of a vehicle.
Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    someone who is morally reprehensible wordnet
  2. 7
    Someone who seeks something. broadly

    "On the way out of the building I was asked for my autograph. If I'd known who the signature hound thought I was, I would've signed appropriately."

  3. 8
    A male who constantly seeks the company of desirable women. broadly

    ""She had a good many successors, John." "You are such a hound, in that respect, Goodson," said Claywell, "and you have always been such a hound, that it astounds me to find you—unaccompanied.""

  4. 9
    A despicable person.

    "Boy! false hound!"

  5. 10
    A houndfish.
Verb
  1. 1
    To persistently harass doggedly. transitive

    "He hounded me for weeks, but I was simply unable to pay back his loan."

  2. 2
    pursue or chase relentlessly wordnet
  3. 3
    To urge on against; to set (dogs) upon in hunting. archaic, transitive

    "We both thought we saw what had the appearance to be a fox, and hounded the dogs at it, but they would not pursue it."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English hound, from Old English hund, from Proto-West Germanic *hund, from Proto-Germanic *hundaz, from pre-Germanic *ḱuntós (compare Latvian sùnt-ene (“big dog”), enlargement of Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ (“dog”). Doublet of canine. In 14th-century England, hound was the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype resembling the modern mastiff and bulldog. By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, and hound had begun to refer only to breeds used for hunting.

Etymology 2

From Middle English hounden, from the noun (see above).

Etymology 3

From Middle English hownde, hount, houn, probably from Old Norse húnn, from Proto-Germanic *hūnaz.

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