Word.ws English Dictionary

hunt's-up

hunt's-up noun: a tune played on the horn very early in the morning to call out the hunters; hence, any rousing sound or call.

Noun

hunt's-up (plural hunt's-ups)

  1. (obsolete) A tune played on the horn very early in the morning to call out the hunters; hence, any rousing sound or call.
    • Since arme from arme that voyce doth vs affray,
      Hunting thee hence, with Hunts-vp to the dayc. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    • Time plays the hunt's-up to thy sleepy head.1605, Michael Drayton, The Third Eclogue
  2. (obsolete) Any disturbing sound or noise; a racket, a disturbance.
    • I'll play theſe Rake-hells such a Hunts up, / As were they ſhee's would turn their ⸺ up.1664, Charles Cotton, Scarronides

Forms of hunt's-up

pluralhunt's-ups

Origin of hunt's-up

From "The hunt is up", the name of an old hunting song.

Questions about hunt's-up

What does hunt's-up mean?
Hunt's-up means a tune played on the horn very early in the morning to call out the hunters; hence, any rousing sound or call.
What part of speech is hunt's-up?
Hunt's-up is a noun.
What is the plural of hunt's-up?
The plural of hunt's-up is hunt's-ups.

Words near hunt's-up in the dictionary

  1. hunt up
  2. hunt where the ducks are
  3. hunt where the ducks were
  4. Hunt's Cross
  5. Hunt's disease
  6. hunt's-up
  7. hunt's-ups
  8. hunt-and-peck
  9. hunt-and-pecker
  10. hunt-and-peckers
  11. huntable

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hunt's-up (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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