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What is the difference between prey and hunt?

prey | hunt |

As nouns the difference between prey and hunt

is that prey is anything, as goods, etc., taken or got by violence; anything taken by force from an enemy in war; spoil; booty; plunder while hunt is the act of hunting.

As a verb hunt is

to chase down prey and (usually) kill it.

As a proper noun Hunt is

{{surname|A=An English occupational|lang=en|from=occupations}} for a hunter (for game, birds etc).

prey

English

Noun

  • (archaic) Anything, as goods, etc., taken or got by violence; anything taken by force from an enemy in war; spoil; booty; plunder.
  • * Bible, Numbers xxxi. 12
  • And they brought the captives, and the prey , and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest.
  • That which is or may be seized by animals or birds to be devoured; hence, a person given up as a victim.
  • * Dryden
  • Already sees herself the monster's prey .
  • * Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
  • [The helmsman] steered with no end of a swagger while you were by; but if he lost sight of you, he became instantly the prey of an abject funk
  • A living thing that is eaten by another living thing.
  • * Bible, Job iv. ii
  • The old lion perisheth for lack of prey .
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= William E. Conner
  • , title= An Acoustic Arms Race , volume=101, issue=3, page=206-7, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Nonetheless, some insect prey take advantage of clutter by hiding in it. Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.}}
  • The act of devouring other creatures; ravage.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Hog in sloth, fox in stealth, lion in prey .
  • The victim of a disease.
  • References

    *

    Anagrams

    *

    hunt

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To chase down prey and (usually) kill it.
  • * Bible, Genesis xxvii. 5
  • Esau went to the field to hunt for venison.
  • * Tennyson
  • Like a dog, he hunts in dreams.
  • * 2010 , Backyard deer hunting: converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound (ISBN 1449084354), page 10:
  • State Wildlife Management Areas often offer licensed hunters the opportunity to hunt deer on public lands.
  • To try to find something; search.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
  • He after honour hunts , I after love.
  • * , chapter=1
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
  • * 2004 , Prill Boyle, Defying Gravity: A Celebration of Late-Blooming Women (ISBN 1578601541), page 119:
  • My idea of retirement was to hunt seashells, play golf, and do a lot of walking.
  • * 2011 , Ann Major, Nobody's Child (ISBN 1459271939):
  • What kind of woman came to an island and stayed there through a violent storm and then got up the next morning to hunt seashells? She had fine, delicate features with high cheekbones and the greenest eyes he'd ever seen.
    The police are hunting for evidence.
  • To drive; to chase; with down'', ''from'', ''away , etc.
  • to hunt down a criminal
    He was hunted from the parish.
  • To use or manage (dogs, horses, etc.) in hunting.
  • * Addison
  • He hunts a pack of dogs.
  • To use or traverse in pursuit of game.
  • He hunts the woods, or the country.

    Derived terms

    * hunt where the ducks are * that dog won't hunt

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of hunting.
  • A hunting expedition.
  • An organization devoted to hunting, or the people belonging to such an organization (capitalized if the name of a specific organization).
  • Derived terms

    * treasure hunt