manhunt

M3A1N1H4U1N1T1
US/ˈmænˌhʌnt/

noun

An organized search for a criminal or enemy.

“After the murderer escaped, there was a full-scale manhunt to catch him.”

Less commonScrabble 12
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Meanings

nounmanhunt (plural manhunts)

plural manhunts

  1. An organized search for a criminal or enemy.

    After the murderer escaped, there was a full-scale manhunt to catch him.

  2. playground gamesA variant of hide and seek in which a player who is caught by the seeker themselves becomes a seeker, and the final player remaining is declared the winner.

    Manhunt is a variant of hide-and-seek, she tells me. One person is the seeker. Everyone else hides. If the seeker finds you, you become a seeker, too.

    2019 February 1, Dave Atkinson, “The Storyline: Raising kids in your hometown a lot of fun”, in CBC News, archived from the original on 05 Feb 2019

Origin

From man + hunt.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian пресле́дване, ха́йка
  • пресле́дване (preslédvane)organized search
  • ха́йка (hájka)organized search
Chinese Mandarin 搜捕
  • 搜捕 (sōubǔ)organized search
Dutch klopjacht
  • klopjachtorganized search
Finnish ihmisjahti, etsintä
  • ihmisjahtiorganized search
  • etsintäorganized search
French chasse à l'homme
  • chasse à l'hommeorganized search
German Fahndung, Großfahndung
  • Fahndungorganized search
  • Großfahndungorganized search
  • Verbrecherjagdorganized search
  • Menschenjagdorganized search
Greek ανθρωποκυνηγητό
  • ανθρωποκυνηγητό (anthropokynigitó)organized search
Hebrew מָצוֹד
  • מָצוֹד (matsód)organized search
Italian caccia all'uomo
  • caccia all'uomoorganized search
Polish obława, pościg
  • obławaorganized search
  • pościgorganized search
Russian пресле́дование, ро́зыск
  • пресле́дование (preslédovanije)organized search
  • ро́зыск (rózysk)organized search
  • обла́ва (obláva)organized search
Spanish persecución, cacería
  • persecuciónorganized search
  • caceríaorganized search
  • cacería humanaorganized search
Ukrainian переслі́дування, ро́зшук
  • переслі́дування (pereslíduvannja)organized search
  • ро́зшук (rózšuk)organized search
  • обла́ва (obláva)organized search
Cite this entry
APA

manhunt. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manhunt

MLA

“manhunt.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manhunt. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “manhunt,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manhunt.

Source: manhunt on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.