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
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English pursuen, from Anglo-French pursuer, ultimately from 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,adjectiveout·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
This strategy will likely result in substantial death and suffering in countries that are not able to pursue these deals.
A coronavirus vaccine will save more lives if we share it widely|Kat Eschner|September 17, 2020|Popular Science
She forms her closest friendship with Svetlana, who “sounded really different when she spoke Serbo-Croatian,” and she pursues Ivan, who speaks Hungarian and who also speaks the language of pure mathematics.
The true love story in Elif Batuman’s The Idiot is a love affair with language|Constance Grady|September 11, 2020|Vox
So Naftogaz advised its government not to pursue a gas deal with the Louisiana company.
Rick Perry’s Ukrainian Dream|by Simon Shuster, TIME, and Ilya Marritz, WNYC|September 10, 2020|ProPublica
I always felt I didn’t have the skill set to lead a company in making an impact on the future, because I didn’t pursue a doctorate and instead had a “fox-like” career.
Book recommendations from Fortune’s 40 under 40 in health|Rachel King|September 9, 2020|Fortune
Elsewhere, districts are pursuing tutoring models to provide personalized in-person or remote academic support.
Creative school plans could counter inequities exposed by COVID-19|Sujata Gupta|September 8, 2020|Science News
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, -suingor-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 accompanyill 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