Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Haunt?

\Haunt\ (?; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Haunted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Haunting}.] [F. hanter; of uncertain origin, perh. from an assumed LL. ambitare to go about, fr. L. ambire (see {Ambition}); or cf. Icel. heimta to demand, regain, akin to heim home (see {Home}). [root]36.] 1. To frequent; to resort to frequently; to visit pertinaciously or intrusively; to intrude upon. You wrong me, sir, thus still to haunt my house. --Shak. Those cares that haunt the court and town. --Swift. 2. To inhabit or frequent as a specter; to visit as a ghost or apparition. Foul spirits haunt my resting place. --Fairfax. 3. To practice; to devote one's self to. [Obs.] That other merchandise that men haunt with fraud . . . is cursed. --Chaucer. Leave honest pleasure, and haunt no good pastime. --Ascham. 4. To accustom; to habituate. [Obs.] Haunt thyself to pity. --Wyclif.
\Haunt\, v. i. To persist in staying or visiting. I've charged thee not to haunt about my doors. --Shak.
\Haunt\, n. 1. A place to which one frequently resorts; as, drinking saloons are the haunts of tipplers; a den is the haunt of wild beasts. Note: In Old English the place occupied by any one as a dwelling or in his business was called a haunt. Note: Often used figuratively. The household nook, The haunt of all affections pure. --Keble. The feeble soul, a haunt of fears. --Tennyson. 2. The habit of resorting to a place. [Obs.] The haunt you have got about the courts. --Arbuthnot. 3. Practice; skill. [Obs.] Of clothmaking she hadde such an haunt. --Chaucer.