Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A groove cut in an object; a slot.
  • noun A trench or channel for drainpipes or wiring.
  • noun The part of a gun in front of the trunnions.
  • noun The cavity of a mold.
  • transitive verb To groove; indent.
  • transitive verb To cut (the thread of a screw).
  • transitive verb To decorate (metal) by engraving or embossing.
  • intransitive verb To follow rapidly in order to catch or overtake; pursue.
  • intransitive verb To follow (game) in order to capture or kill; hunt.
  • intransitive verb To seek the favor or company of persistently.
  • intransitive verb To put to flight; drive.
  • intransitive verb To cause (an opposing pitcher) to be removed from a game by batting well.
  • intransitive verb To swing at and miss (a pitch, especially one out of the strike zone).
  • intransitive verb To go or follow in pursuit.
  • intransitive verb Informal To go hurriedly; rush.
  • noun The act of chasing; pursuit.
  • noun The hunting of game.
  • noun Something that is hunted or pursued; quarry.
  • noun A privately owned, unenclosed game preserve.
  • noun The right to hunt or keep game on the land of others.
  • idiom (chase (one's) tail) To exert oneself vigorously but ineffectually.
  • idiom (give chase) To engage in pursuit of quarry.
  • noun A rectangular steel or iron frame into which pages or columns of type are locked for printing or plate making.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In printing, a square and open framework of iron, in which forms of type are secured by furniture and quoins for moving and for working on the press.
  • noun The part of a gun between the trunnions and the swell of the muzzle, or, in modern guns in which the muzzle has no swell, the whole of that part of the gun which is in front of the trunnions.
  • noun A groove cut in any object: as, the chase of a water-wheel; a chase in the face of a wall of masonry; the chase or groove for the arrow in a crossbow.
  • noun In ship-building, that kind of joint by which the overlapping joints of clincher-built boats are gradually converted at the stem and stern into flush joints, as in carvel-built boats.
  • noun The circular trough of a cider-mill, in which the apples are placed to be crushed by a revolving stone called the runner.
  • noun A trench made to receive drain-tiles.
  • To pursue for the purpose of capturing or killing, as game; hunt.
  • To pursue for any purpose; follow earnestly, especially with hostile intent; drive off by pursuing: as, to chase an enemy.
  • To pursue; continue.
  • To pursue; follow in pursuit.
  • Specifically Of a hunting-dog, to leave a point for the purpose of pursuing the game. To move briskly or steadily along; hasten: as, the dog kept chasing ahead of us.
  • To push the bottle toward one and thus call upon him to fill up his glass.
  • To exceed a given customary standard of production.
  • noun Pursuit for the purpose of obtaining, capturing, or killing; specifically, hunting: as, to be fond of the chase; beasts of the chase.
  • noun Pursuit, as of one's desires; eager efforts to attain or obtain: as, the chase of pleasure, profit, fame, etc.
  • noun That which is pursued or hunted
  • noun A vessel pursued by another: as, the chase outsailed us.
  • noun The body of men pursuing game.
  • noun An open piece of ground or other place reserved for animals to be hunted as game, and belonging to a private proprietor: properly differing from a forest, in that the latter is not private property and is invested with privileges, and from a park, in that the latter is inclosed.
  • noun In the game of tennis, the spot where a ball falls, beyond which an opponent must strike his ball or lose a point.
  • noun In old English law, a franchise authorizing a subject to whom it was granted to hunt
  • noun The conical apex of a spinning-machine cop or bobbin, or the extent of the traverse of the winding-faller wire on a spinning-mule. Sometimes called the nose.
  • noun In carpentry, a score or shallow cut in a mortise.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

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

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

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

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

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

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Possibly from obsolete French chas ("groove”, “enclosure"), from Old French, from Latin capsa, box. V., variant of “enchase”.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French chacier, from Late Latin captio. Akin to catch.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Perhaps from French châsse ("case”, “reliquary"), from Old French chasse, from Latin capsa.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word chase.

Examples

  • Mansell was third in the title chase with Piquet fourth, the top four covered by 17 points.

    Chequered Conflict Maurice Hamilton 2008

  • As the sport's most popular driver, his participation in the title chase raises the profile of the 10-race series.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • There were 19 rounds last year, one of the closest-fought championships on record with an unprecedented four drivers still mathematically in the title chase at the final race in Abu

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • The British driver, who was representing his McLaren team at the fourth annual Moscow City Racing show, is 95 points behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in the title chase as the season reaches the halfway stage.

    NEWS.com.au | Top Stories 2011

  • Force India now sitting pretty in a very solid sixth spot in the title chase, and the

    Crash.Net Motorsports Newsfeed 2010

  • Deer Valley also catches a break in the title chase because two-time champion Peoria Sunrise Mountain is now in 4A-I.

    azcentral.com | news Odeen Domingo 2010

  • Brookes, riding HM Plant Honda, goes into these races sensing that he can take the lead in the title chase for the first time, having closed within four points of Hill who has had a problematic last two rounds.

    Roadracingworld.com 2010

  • Mark Cronje and Robert Paisley are fourth in the title chase and will now be expected to support Gemmell's title aspirations while, in the VW camp, Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries, double defending champions and winners of the opening round in kwaZulu-Natal - are out of title contention after recording three consecutive non-finishes.

    Motoring 2010

  • Despite currently languishing a lowly eighth in the title chase - a full 42 points adrift of F1 2010 World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari star

    Crash.Net Motorsports Newsfeed 2010

  • Levi looked like he might play himself out of the title chase Saturday.

    theithacajournal.com - 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.