hunt down

To search for and follow a person or animal until you catch or kill them.

• The police hunted down the thief.
• Hunters tracked the wolf for days before hunting it down.
• They finally hunted down the prisoner who had escaped last month.

How to use it: hunt someone/something down (The police hunted the escaped prisoner down.)

Similar words: track down, capture

Common phrases: hunt down someone, hunt down an animal, hunt down the suspect

To find someone or something after a long or difficult search.

• I finally hunted down the book.
• She hunted down an old friend through an online group.
• Can you hunt down a spare part for this washing machine?

How to use it: hunt someone/something down (I hunted the book down in a secondhand shop.)

Similar words: track down, find, locate

Common phrases: hunt down something, hunt down a copy, hunt down an address

To pursue people violently in order to kill them or destroy their group.

• The regime hunted down its opponents.
• Armed groups hunted down families who had fled the fighting.
• Survivors feared they would be hunted down and killed.

How to use it: hunt someone down (The soldiers hunted them down after the village fell.)

Similar words: persecute, exterminate

Common phrases: hunt down enemies, hunt down someone, hunt down survivors