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p., a following with haste, either for sport or in hostility; chase; prosecution; as, the pursuit of game; the pursuit of an enemy. Clarendon. Weak we are, and can not shun pursuit. Shak.

To engross or engage wholly; to occupy fully; as, absorbed in study or the pursuit of wealth.

Swallowing, engrossing; as, an absorbing pursuit. -- Ab*sorb"ing, adv.

Moving toward from behind; following, in search of; in pursuit of. Ye shall not go after other gods. Deut. vi. 14. After whom is the king of Israel come out 1 Sam. xxiv. 14.

A person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science as to music or painting; esp. one who cultivates any study or art, from taste or attachment, without pursuing it professionally.

Artistic pursuits; artistic ability. The Academy.

Pursuits; duties; affairs which occupy one's time; usual employment; vocation. There are professions, among the men, no more favorable to these studies than the common avocations of women. Richardson. In a few hours, above thirty thousand men left his standard, and returned to their ordinary avocations. Macaulay. An ir…

Vehement pursuit for the purpose of killing or capturing, as of an enemy, or game; an earnest seeking after any object greatly desired; the act or habit of hunting; a hunt. "This mad chase of fame." Dryden. You see this chase is hotly followed. Shak.

To turn, when in pursuit of proper game, and fly after other birds. And like the haggard, check at every feather That comes before his eye. Shak.

ght-errantry; warlike; heroic; gallant; high-spirited; high-minded; magnanimous. In brave pursuit of chivalrous emprise. Spenser.

A tribe of North American Indians (Southern Appalachian), in early times noted for their pursuit of agriculture, and for living at peace with the white settlers. They are now one of the civilized tribes of the Indian Territory.

One whose pursuits are those of civil life, not military or clerical.

t, society, or body of persons; esp., a body of persons united by some common interest or pursuit; -- sometimes used contemptuously. Partidge and the rest of his clan may hoot me. Smolett. The whole clan of the enlightened among us. Burke.

A collection, body, or society of persons engaged in common pursuits, or having common duties and interests, and sometimes, by charter, peculiar rights and privileges; as, a college of heralds; a college of electors; a college of bishops. The college of the cardinals. Shak. Then they made colleges of sufferers; persons…

en. -- To come up to, to rise to; to equal. -- To come up with, to overtake or reach by pursuit. -- To come upon. (a) To befall. (b) To attack or invade. (c) To have a claim upon; to become dependent upon for support; as, to come upon the town. (d) To light or chance upon; to find; as, to come upon hid treasure.…

ciently plain. Sharp. When a lover becomes satisfied by small compliances without further pursuits, then expect to find popular assemblies content with small concessions. Swift.

The pursuit or running game with dogs that follow by sight instead of by scent. In coursing of a deer, or hart, with greyhounds. Bacon

A temporary passion or infatuation, as for same new amusement, pursuit, or fashion; as, the bric-a-brac craze; the æsthetic craze. Various crazes concerning health and disease. W. Pater.

of Beauty and Truth, one of which is the final end or object of study in every one of its pursuits: Beauty, in letters and the arts; Truth, in history and sciences. Brande & C. By criticism, as it was first instituted by Aristotle, was meant a standard of judging well. Dryden.

urs its insect parasites, even entering its open mouth (according to reliable writers) in pursuit of files, etc.; -- called also Nile bird. It is the trochilos of ancient writers. -- Crocodile tears, false or affected tears; hypocritical sorrow; -- derived from the fiction of old travelers, that crocodiles shed tears…