• enPR: hônt, IPA: /hɔːnt/
• (some accents) enPR: hänt, IPA: /hɑːnt/
• (some accents for noun definition #2) enPR: hănt, IPA: /hænt/

haunt (haunts, present participle haunting; past and past participle haunted)

1. (transitive) To inhabit, or visit frequently (most often used in reference to ghosts).

   A couple of ghosts haunt the old, burnt-down house.

   • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry VViues of VVindsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act III, scene iv]:

     You wrong me, sir, thus still to haunt my house.

2. 1713, Jonathan Swift, Imitation of Horace, Book I. Ep. VII.

   those cares that haunt the court and town

3. Foul spirits haunt my resting place.

4. (transitive) To make uneasy, restless.

   The memory of his past failures haunted him.

5. (transitive) To stalk, to follow

   The policeman haunted him, following him everywhere.

6. (intransitive, now, rare) To live habitually; to stay, to remain.
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, John XI:

     Jesus therfore walked no more openly amonge the iewes: butt went his waye thence vnto a countre ny to a wildernes into a cite called effraym, and there haunted with his disciples.

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.x:

     yonder in that wastefull wildernesse / Huge monsters haunt, and many dangers dwell […]

7. (transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To accustom; habituate; make accustomed to.

   • Haunt thyself to pity.

8. (transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To practise; to devote oneself to.

   • Leave honest pleasure, and haunt no good pastime.

9. (intransitive) To persist in staying or visiting.
   • c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene i]:

     I've charged thee not to haunt about my doors.

• (to make uneasy) nag
• (to live habitually) live, dwell; See also Thesaurus:reside

• French: hanter
• German: spuken (of ghosts), heimsuchen
• Portuguese: perseguir
• Russian: посеща́ть
• Spanish: frecuentar

• French: hanter
• Italian: tormentare
• Portuguese: assombrar
• Russian: пресле́довать

• German: verfolgen
• Russian: пресле́довать
• Spanish: perseguir

• French: demeurer
• Russian: обита́ть

haunt (plural haunts)

1. A place at which one is regularly found; a habitation or hangout.
   • 1868, Louisa May Alcott, "Kitty's Class Day":

     Both Jack and Fletcher had graduated the year before, but still took an interest in their old haunts, and patronized the fellows who were not yet through.

   • 1984, Timothy Loughran and Natalie Angier, "[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,955334,00.html Science: Striking It Rich in Wyoming]," Time, 8 Oct.:

     Wyoming has been a favorite haunt of paleontologists for the past century ever since westering pioneers reported that many vertebrate fossils were almost lying on the ground.

2. (dialect) A ghost.
   • 1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska 2005, page 93:

     ‘Harnts don't wander much ginerally,’ he said. ‘They hand round thar own buryin'-groun' mainly.’

3. A feeding place for animals.

• French: point de rencontre
• German: Treffpunkt
• Italian: ritrovo
• Portuguese: poiso, poiso habitual, pouso, pouso habitual