chase

[[t]tʃe͟ɪs[/t]]

♦♦♦

chases, chasing, chased

1) VERB If you chase someone, or chase after them, you run after them or follow them quickly in order to catch or reach them.

[V n] She chased the thief for 100 yards...

[V after n] He said nothing to waiting journalists, who chased after him as he left.

Syn:

pursuit

N-COUNT

Chase is also a noun.

He was reluctant to give up the chase... Police said he was arrested without a struggle after a car chase through the streets of Biarritz.

2) VERB If you are chasing something you want, such as work or money, you are trying hard to get it.

[V n] In Wales, 14 people are chasing every job...

[V n] There are too many schools chasing too few pupils.

[V after n] ...publishers and booksellers chasing after profits from high-volume sales.

N-SING: N for n

Chase is also a noun.

They took an invincible lead in the chase for the championship.

3) VERB If someone chases someone that they are attracted to, or chases after them, they try hard to persuade them to have a sexual relationship with them.

[V n] Women also have another reason for not chasing men too hard, of course...

[V after n] `I was always chasing after men who just couldn't handle intimacy,' she says.

N-SING: the N

Chase is also a noun.

The chase is always much more exciting than the conquest anyway.

4) VERB If someone chases you from a place, they force you to leave by using threats or violence.

[V n from/out of/off n] Many farmers will then chase you off their land quite aggressively...

[V n away/off/out] Angry demonstrators chased him away.

5) VERB To chase someone from a job or a position or from power means to force them to leave it.

[V n from/out of n] His single-minded pursuit of European union helped chase Mrs Thatcher from power.

6) VERB If you chase somewhere, you run or rush there.

[V prep/adv] They chased down the stairs into the narrow, dirty street.

[V prep/adv] ...chasing about late at night in search of life's necessities.

Syn:

run, rush, dash

7) N-SING: the N The chase is the activity of hunting animals. [OLD-FASHIONED]

...bear robes, mountain lion hides, and other trophies of the chase.

8) N-IN-NAMES Chase is often used in the name of horse races in which the horses have to jump over obstacles such as fences or bushes. [BRIT]

...the Champion Hunter Chase.

Syn:

steeplechase

9) → See also wild goose chase

10) PHRASE: V inflects If you give chase, you run after someone or follow them quickly in order to catch them.

Other officers gave chase but the killers escaped.

11) PHRASE If you talk about the thrill of the chase, you are referring to the excitement that people feel when they are trying hard to get something.

People who adore the thrill of the chase know that prizes, like diamonds, are worth striving for.

Phrasal Verbs:

- chase away

- chase down

- chase up