chase

chase¹

—chaseable, adj.

/chays/, v., chased, chasing, n.

v.t.

1. to pursue in order to seize, overtake, etc.: The police officer chased the thief.

2. to pursue with intent to capture or kill, as game; hunt: to chase deer.

3. to follow or devote one's attention to with the hope of attracting, winning, gaining, etc.: He chased her for three years before she consented to marry him.

4. to drive or expel by force, threat, or harassment: She chased the cat out of the room.

v.i.

5. to follow in pursuit: to chase after someone.

6. to rush or hasten: We spent the weekend chasing around from one store to another.

n.

7. the act of chasing; pursuit: The chase lasted a day.

8. an object of pursuit; something chased.

9. Chiefly Brit. a private game preserve; a tract of privately owned land reserved for, and sometimes stocked with, animals and birds to be hunted.

10. Brit. the right of keeping game or of hunting on the land of others.

11. a steeplechase.

12. cut to the chase, Informal. to get to the main point.

13. give chase, to pursue: The hunt began and the dogs gave chase.

14. the chase, the sport or occupation of hunting.

[1250-1300; ME chacen < MF chasser to hunt, OF chacier < VL *captiare; see CATCH]

Syn. 4. oust, rout, scatter. 7. hunt, quest.

chase²

/chays/, n.

1. a rectangular iron frame in which composed type is secured or locked for printing or platemaking.

2. Building Trades. a space or groove in a masonry wall or through a floor for pipes or ducts.

3. a groove, furrow, or trench; a lengthened hollow.

4. Ordn.

a. the part of a gun in front of the trunnions.

b. the part containing the bore.

[1570-80; < MF chas, chasse < LL capsus (masc.), capsum (neut.) fully or partly enclosed space, var. of capsa CASE²]

chase³

/chays/, v.t., chased, chasing.

1. to ornament (metal) by engraving or embossing.

2. to cut (a screw thread), as with a chaser or machine tool.

[1400-50; late ME chased (ptp.); aph. var. of ENCHASE]

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(as used in expressions)

Chase Manhattan Corp.

Chase Salmon Portland

Chase Samuel

Chase William Merritt

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Knox Philander Chase

Smith Margaret Chase

Margaret Madeline Chase

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