to pursue a dream
1
3.0
- phrasal verb
- /pərˈsuː ə driːm/
:
perseguir un sueño
- She now realizes that not only is it acceptable to pursue a dream, it should be expected.
Like, all the lessons I learned from just literally making no money and pursuing a dream for eight years made me who I am today.
- Like, all the lessons I learned from just literally making no money and pursuing a dream for eight years made me who I am today.
- But then I got my five years and because at the time you can't, you can't be involved in crime and pursue a dream.
- It's about you doing you, about you excelling, about you pursuing a dream, about you waking up and doing things that are meaningful to you.
Examples
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Here is an ordinary person risking life and limb to pursue a dream.
Blog text (6) -
They will pursue a dream they might be better advised to postpone until they have secured stronger preparation.
Academic text (2001) -
Like, all the lessons I learned from just literally making no money and pursuing a dream for eight years made me who I am today.
-
I left to pursue a dream, but truth be told, I cried my eyes out the day I left.
Blog text (20) -
It's the boldness of pursuing a dream that no one else understands except for you.
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I have always tried to be transparent and honest about the obstacles of this trip in the hope that my openness and vulnerability might give someone strength or inspiration in their fight against cancer or in pursuing a dream.
Blog text (27) -
As one who is in the process of crossing over from amateur to pro (giving away a well-paid career to pursue a dream), I just wanted to put my weight of support behind Dave's comments.
Blog text (29) -
Someone I know recently just picked up and moved to Chicago to pursue a dream of theirs, and I couldn't help but admire her greatly for it. It got me thinking, as more and more people do that sort of thing, or as I become more aware of it anyway, that I've got all this education, all these tools, and my fair share of potential, and I've never really taken any chances like that.
Blog text (32) -
Jeff and Tabatha left their corporate jobs to pursue a dream of opening a family-owned store.
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With the support of his family, he decided to pursue a dream of becoming a professional musician.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Try to find or get something you want
272
2.5
To try to get something you want by making an effort
239
2.3
Try to reach a goal
156
3.7
To work very hard to reach a goal
79
2.8
To try to reach a goal
30
3.9
To try to reach a big, difficult goal
18
3.4
To try to reach a personal goal despite problems
5
3.9
Try to reach very difficult goals
4
4.9
To try to achieve very big goals
3
7.1
To try to do very big or difficult things to get what you want
2
4.7
Try to reach a very high and difficult goal
To keep trying to reach a goal even when things are hard
Plan to get something you want, like a job or prize
Antonyms
How Committed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'pursue' (to strive for or follow) combined with 'dream' (an aspiration) yields 'to try to achieve an aspiration.' The article 'a' is semantically light and this verb + noun collocation follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a learner who knows the constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
Pursue a dream uses the image of pursue, meaning 'to chase', and dream, meaning 'a hoped-for goal'. Imagine someone running after a shining prize; this image shows why the phrase means 'to try to reach a personal goal'.