chase Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the act of pursuing in an effort to overtake or capture
    following; pursual; pursuit.
    • the culprit started to run and the cop took off in pursuit
  2. noun United States politician and jurist who served as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1808-1873)
    Salmon Portland Chase; Salmon P. Chase.
  3. noun a rectangular metal frame used in letterpress printing to hold together the pages or columns of composed type that are printed at one time
  4. verb go after with the intent to catch
    go after; chase after; track; dog; trail; tail; tag; give chase.
    • The policeman chased the mugger down the alley
    • the dog chased the rabbit
  5. verb pursue someone sexually or romantically
    chase after.
  6. verb cut a groove into
    • chase silver
  7. verb cut a furrow into a columns
    chamfer; furrow.

WordNet

Chase transitive verb
Etymology
OF. chacier, F. chasser, fr. (assumed) LL. captiare, fr. L. captare to strive to seize. See Catch.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Chased ; present participle & verbal noun Chasing
Definitions
  1. To pursue for the purpose of killing or taking, as an enemy, or game; to hunt.
    We are those which chased you from the field. Shak.
    Philologists, who chase A panting syllable through time and place. Cowper.
  2. To follow as if to catch; to pursue; to compel to move on; to drive by following; to cause to fly; -- often with away or off; as, to chase the hens away.
    Chased by their brother's endless malice from prince to prince and from place to place. Knolles.
  3. To pursue eagerly, as hunters pursue game.
    Chasing each other merrily. Tennyson.
Chase intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To give chase; to hunt; as, to chase around after a doctor. Colloq.
Chase noun
Etymology
Cf. F. chasse, fr. chasser. See Chase, v.
Definitions
  1. 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.
  2. That which is pursued or hunted.
    Nay, Warwick, seek thee out some other chase, For I myself must hunt this deer to death. Shak.
  3. An open hunting ground to which game resorts, and which is private properly, thus differing from a forest, which is not private property, and from a park, which is inclosed. Sometimes written chace. Eng.
  4. (Court Tennis) A division of the floor of a gallery, marked by a figure or otherwise; the spot where a ball falls, and between which and the dedans the adversary must drive his ball in order to gain a point.
Chase noun
Etymology
F. cháse, fr. L. capsa box, case. See Case a box.
Definitions
(Print.)
  1. A rectangular iron frame in which pages or columns of type are imposed.
  2. (Mil.) The part of a cannon from the reënforce or the trunnions to the swell of the muzzle. See Cannon.
  3. A groove, or channel, as in the face of a wall; a trench, as for the reception of drain tile.
  4. (Shipbuilding) A kind of joint by which an overlap joint is changed to a flush joint, by means of a gradually deepening rabbet, as at the ends of clinker-built boats.
Chase transitive verb
Etymology
A contraction of enchase.
Definitions
  1. To ornament (a surface of metal) by embossing, cutting away parts, and the like.
  2. To cut, so as to make a screw thread.

Webster 1913