pursue
/pəˈsjuː//pɚˈsu/
pursue verb: to follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase.
Verb
pursue (third-person singular simple present pursues, present participle pursuing, simple past and past participle pursued)
- To follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase.
- pursue one's dreams
- The wicked flee when no man purſueth: but the righteous are bolde as a lyon.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 28:1
- To follow, travel down (a particular way, course of action etc.).
- Her rival pursued a quite different course.
- To aim for, go after (a specified objective, situation etc.).
- He even stands to gain in world terms: his noisy critics strengthen his projected image of a man determined to pursue peace with Palestinians.1 December 2009, Benjamin Pogrund, “Freeze won't hurt Netanyahu”, in The Guardian
- To participate in (an activity, business etc.); to practise, follow (a profession).
- The Kedarites are depicted as herders of sheep and goats who pursued a seminomadic existence and lived scattered over a wide area of the desert region east of the land of Israel.2001, David L. Lieber, Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 141
- To urge (someone or something) to act in a particular way.
- The mayor promised to pursue the city to be an Olympic sports venue.
- To act as a legal prosecutor.
- To continue; to carry on.
- 'Allow me, great king,' pursued the Demon, in a dry tone of voice, 'to wish you joy […]1870, Richard Francis Burton, “Conclusion”, in Vikram and the Vampire; or, Tales of Hindu Devilry, London: Longmans, Green, and Co, page 307
pursue meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu
pursue in Tamil
- பிடித்தாத்துடர்
pursue in Urdu
- پریشان ہونا, پیچھے جانا, تلاش کرنا, پریشان کرنا, پیچھا کرنا, پیچھے پڑنا
pursue in Bengali
- to pursue
- খেদা kheda
pursue in Telugu
- to pursue, hunt
- వెంబడించు vembaḍiñcu
More languagesFewer languages
- pursue in Malayalam
- കുറ്റാരോപണം ചെയ്യുക, ദ്രോഹിക്കുക, പീഡിപ്പിക്കുക
- pursue in Kannada
- ಅಟ್ಟು, ಎಬ್ಬು, ಹಿಂಬಾಲಿಸು, ತಗುಳು
- pursue in Odia
- ଗୋଡ଼ାଇବା goṛāibā
- pursue in Sanskrit
- वी vī, भजति bhájati
- pursue in Assamese
- খেদা kheda
- pursue in Arabic
- لَاحَقَ lāḥaqa, اِتَّبَعَ ittabaʕa
- pursue in Indonesian
- mengejar, mengikuti
- pursue in Persian
- دنبال کردن donbâl kardan, به دنبال چیزی بودن
Examples of pursue in a sentence
- The world is full of opportunities and it's up to me to see them and pursue them.
- A craft such as quilting may be pursued as a hobby or as a cottage industry.
- The United States will continue to pursue a military and civilian counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan.
Forms of pursue
| third-person singular present | pursues |
|---|---|
| present participle | pursuing |
| past participle | pursued |
| past | pursued |
Origin of pursue
From Middle English pursuen, from Anglo-Norman pursure, poursuire etc., from Latin prōsequor (though influenced by persequor). Doublet of prosecute.
Words formed from pursue
Phrases with pursue
Words that rhyme with pursue
Questions about pursue
- What does pursue mean?
- Pursue means to follow urgently, originally with intent to capture or harm; to chase.
- What is pursue in Tamil?
- Pursue in Tamil is பிடித்தாத்துடர். See Pursue meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is pursue?
- Pursue is a verb.
- How do you pronounce pursue?
- Pursue is pronounced /pəˈsjuː/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of pursue?
- The past tense of pursue is pursued.
Words near pursue in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pursue (page history and authors); pursue (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pursue (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); খেদা (Bengali) (page history and authors); వెంబడించు (Telugu) (page history and authors); pursue (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pursue (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ଗୋଡ଼ାଇବା (Odia) (page history and authors); भजति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); খেদা (Assamese) (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-pursue.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-pursue.wav.
Cite this entry: “pursue.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pursue. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.