PURSUE, verb transitive [Latin sequor; prosequor, or persequor. See Seek.] 1. To follow; to go or proceed after or in a like direction. The captain pursued the same course as former navigators have taken. A subsequent legislature pursued the course of their predecessors. 2. To take and proceed in, without following another. Captain Cook pursued a new and unexplored course. New circumstances often compel us to pursue new expedients and untried course. What course shall we pursue? 3. To follow with a view to overtake; to follow with haste; to chase; as, to pursue a hare; to pursue an enemy. 4. To seek; to use measures to obtain; as, to pursue a remedy at law. 5. To prosecute; to continue. A stream proceeds from a lake and pursues a southerly course to the ocean. He that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death. Proverbs 11:1. 6. To follow as an example; to imitate. The fame of ancient matrons you pursue 7. To endeavor to attain to; to strive to reach or gain. We happiness pursue; we fly from pain. 8. To follow with enmity; to persecute. This verb is frequently followed by after. Genesis 35:5. PURSUE, verb intransitive To go on; to proceed; to continue; a Gallicism. I have, pursues Carneades, wondered chimists should not consider--
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI