to quest
1
9.5
To search for the scent or trail of wild animals
- verb
- /kwɛst/
- Specialized
:
rastrear
- As the elk moved silently through the underbrush, their noses quested for any signs of danger.
Examples
-
The mare uttered a disgusted snort and dropped her head, questing for grass amid the snakeweed.
Fiction book (2001) -
The hunting dog was trained to quest for the scent of deer in the forest.
-
With its nose to the ground, the beagle quested for traces of the fox in the tall grass.
Synonyms
to scent
vsto quest
3
3.5
To use the sense of smell to find something, often by animals
is the act by a hunting dog using smell to find game
to track down
vsto quest
1
4.6
To follow wild animals until you catch or kill them
focuses on tracing smell rather than chasing to capture animals
to quest after
vsto quest
1
8.0
To go looking for something difficult to find or get
is a hunting dog's smell based search for game rather than a broad effort
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
How Thoroughly
Surface Forms
Etymology
Quest comes from the Latin quaerere 'to seek' and was used in hunting when dogs looked for the scent of game. That's why one meaning of quest is a dog searching for a track or smell in the field.