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Sleuth vs Hound - What's the difference?

sleuth | hound |

As nouns the difference between sleuth and hound

is that sleuth is (obsolete) an animal’s trail or track or sleuth can be (obsolete|uncountable) slowness; laziness, sloth while hound is a dog, particularly a breed with a good sense of smell developed for hunting other animals (hunt hound, hunting hound, hunting dog, hunter).

As verbs the difference between sleuth and hound

is that sleuth is (transitive) to act as a detective; to try to discover who committed a crime while hound is to persistently harass.

sleuth

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (Norwegian slo).

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) An animal’s trail or track.
  • (archaic) A sleuth-hound; a bloodhound.
  • A detective.
  • * 1908 , (Frank L. Baum), Aunt Jane’s Nieces at Millville
    • Do ye want me to become a sleuth , or engage detectives to track the objects of your erroneous philanthropy?
    Synonyms
    * (detective) detective

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (transitive) To act as a detective; to try to discover who committed a crime.
  • * 1922 , , The Secret Adversary
    • We must discover where he lives, what he does — sleuth him, in fact!
    Synonyms
    * shadow

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) , corresponding to (slow) + (-th).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete, uncountable) Slowness; laziness, sloth.
  • (rare) A collective term for a group of bears.
  • * 1961 , , A Passport Secretly Green , p.89
    • As quietly as if I were practicing to join a sleuth of bears , I crept out the door and went on home, eventually winding up in the garage…
  • * 1995 , , The Girl Sleuth , p.13
    • If these dainty adventurers weren’t being chased by a sleuth of bears or bogeys, they were being captured by Gypsies or thieves.
  • * 2007 , , The Lightkeepers’ Menagerie: Stories of Animals at Lighthouses , p.200
    • From the darkness came the howls of routs of wolves and bands of coyotes, the rumbling growls of a sleuth of bears or the bugles of a gang of elk.
    Synonyms
    * (sloth) idleness, inertia, laziness, lethargy, sloth, slothfulness * (collective term for a group of bears) sloth

    See also

    * sloth *

    Anagrams

    * English collective nouns

    hound

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A dog, particularly a breed with a good sense of smell developed for hunting other animals. (hunt hound, hunting hound, hunting dog, hunter)
  • (by extension) Someone who seeks something.
  • * 1996 , Marc Parent, Turning Stones , , ISBN 0151002045, page 93,
    • On the way out of the building I was asked for my autograph. If I'd known who the signature hound thought I was, I would've signed appropriately.
  • * 2004 , , ISBN 0743486196, page 483,
    • I still do not know if he's taken on this case because he's a glory hound , because he wants the PR, or if he simply wanted to help Anna.
  • (by extension) A male who constantly seeks the company of receptive females.
  • * 1915 , , volume 122, number 787, December 1915, republished in ''Harper's Monthly Magazine , volume 122, December 1915 to May 1916, page 108,
    • "Are you alone, Goodson?
    "She had a good many successors, John."
    "You are such a hound , in that respect, Goodson," said Claywell, "and you have always been such a hound, that it astounds me to find you—unaccompanied."
  • A despicable person.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Boy! false hound !
  • * Elizabeth Walter, Come and Get Me
    • 'You blackmailing hound ,' the parrot said distinctly, in what Hodges recognized as General Derby's voice. Anstruther turned pale.
  • A houndfish.
  • (nautical, in the plural) Projections at the masthead, serving as a support for the trestletrees and top to rest on.
  • A side bar used to strengthen portions of the running gear of a vehicle.
    • In more recent times, hound' has been replaced by ' dog but the sense remains the same.

    Derived terms

    * Afghan hound * autograph hound * bloodhound * clean as a hound's tooth * gazehound * greyhound, grayhound * hold with the hare and run with the hounds * hound dog * houndish * houndlike * houndly * houndstooth * houndy * publicity hound * rock hound * sighthound * wolfhound * boar hound * hell hound * war hound * hounds of war

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To persistently harass.
    • He hounded me for weeks, but I was simply unable to pay back his loan.

    Anagrams

    *