hunt down

present singular third person hunts down · participle present hunting down · participle past hunted down · past hunted down

1. transitiveTo hunt something and capture or kill it.
2. transitiveTo destroy by persecution or violence.
3. colloquialtransitiveTo find with difficulty.

   I managed to hunt down a surviving copy of the magazine.

   1 more example

   The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters such as ostrich, wild boar and crocodile.

   2013 July 26, Nick Miroff, “Mexico gets a taste for eating insects …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 32