/haʊnd/
OriginFrom Middle English hound, from Old English hund, from Proto-West Germanic *hund, from Proto-Germanic *hundaz, from pre-Germanic *ḱuntós (compare Latvian sùnt-ene (“big dog”), enlargement of Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ (“dog”). Doublet of canine.
In 14th-century England, hound was the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype resembling the modern mastiff and bulldog. By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, and hound had begun to refer only to breeds used for hunting.
- A dog, particularly a breed with a good sense of smell developed for hunting other animals.
- Any canine animal.
- broadlySomeone who seeks something.
“On the way out of the building I was asked for my autograph. If I'd known who the signature hound thought I was, I would've signed appropriately.”
“I still do not know if he's taken on this case because he's a glory hound, because he wants the PR, or if he simply wanted to help Anna.”
- broadlyA male who constantly seeks the company of desirable women.
“"She had a good many successors, John."
"You are such a hound, in that respect, Goodson," said Claywell, "and you have always been such a hound, that it astounds me to find you—unaccompanied."”
- A despicable person.
“Boy! false hound!”
“I turned away and left her to finish her journey in peace, feeling, but only for a moment or two, that I had been an unutterably mean hound.”
“'You blackmailing hound,' the parrot said distinctly, in what Hodges recognized as General Derby's voice. Anstruther turned pale.”
- A houndfish.
- in-pluralProjections located at the masthead or foremast, serving as a support for the trestletrees and top on which to rest; a foretop.
- A side bar used to strengthen portions of the running gear of a vehicle.
- transitiveTo persistently harass doggedly.
“He hounded me for weeks, but I was simply unable to pay back his loan.”
“More pertinently for the plot, another marked difference from history is that the United Kingdom of this 1982 is precociously computerised. Instead of having been hounded to death for his homosexualit”
- archaic, transitiveTo urge on against; to set (dogs) upon in hunting.
“We both thought we saw what had the appearance to be a fox, and hounded the dogs at it, but they would not pursue it.”
- A small village and civil parish in Eastleigh borough, Hampshire, England (OS grid ref SU4708).
Formshounds(plural) · hounds(present, singular, third-person) · hounding(participle, present) · hounded(participle, past) · hounded(past) · hune(alternative)