Word.ws English Dictionary

persecuting

persecuting is the present participle and gerund of persecute.

Meaning of persecute

Verb

persecute (third-person singular simple present persecutes, present participle persecuting, simple past and past participle persecuted)

  1. To pursue in a manner to do harm or cruelty to; especially, because of the victim's race, sexual identity, or adherence to a particular belief.
    • He who persecutes one will persecute all.
    Synonyms:
    oppress, harass, distress
  2. To harass with importunity; to pursue with persistent solicitations; to annoy.
    Synonyms:
    annoy
  3. To kill many of one species of animal, with the intent of removing them from human habitats.
    • Humans have been persecuting wolves in this forest for centuries.

Questions about persecuting

What is persecuting the present participle and gerund of?
Persecuting is the present participle and gerund of persecute.

Words near persecuting in the dictionary

  1. persecuter
  2. persecuters
  3. persecutes
  4. persecutest
  5. persecuteth
  6. persecuting
  7. persecutingly
  8. persecution
  9. persecution complex
  10. persecution complexes
  11. persecutional

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: persecuting (page history and authors); persecute (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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Cite this entry: “persecuting.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/persecuting. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.