• IPA: /haʊnd/

From Middle English hound, from Old English hund, from Proto-West Germanic *hund, from Proto-Germanic *hundaz.

In 14th-century England, hound was the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype resembling the modern mastiff and bulldog. By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, and hound had begun to refer only to breeds used for hunting.

hound (plural hounds)

1. A dog, particularly a breed with a good sense of smell developed for hunting other animals.
2. Any canine animal.
3. (by extension) Someone who seeks something.
4. (by extension) A male who constantly seeks the company of desirable women.
   • 1915, Norman Duncan, "A Certain Recipient", in Harper's, volume 122, number 787, December 1915, republished in Harper's Monthly Magazine, volume 122, December 1915 to May 1916, page 108,

     "Are you alone, Goodson? […] I thought, perhaps, that the […] young woman, Goodson, who supplanted Mary?" […]

     "She had a good many successors, John."

     "You are such a hound, in that respect, Goodson," said Claywell, "and you have always been such a hound, that it astounds me to find you—unaccompanied."

5. A despicable person.
   • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene vi]:

     Boy! false hound!

   • 1973, Elizabeth Walter, Come and Get Me and Other Uncanny Invitations:

     'You blackmailing hound,' the parrot said distinctly, in what Hodges recognized as General Derby's voice. Anstruther turned pale.

6. A houndfish.

• French: chien de chasse, braque, molosse, chien courant
• German: Hund (general), Jagdhund (hunting)
• Italian: bracco
• Portuguese: cão de caça, sabujo
• Russian: го́нчая
• Spanish: perro de caza, sabueso

• German: Jäger
• Portuguese: caçador
• Russian: ищейка

• German: Schürzenjäger
• Portuguese: mulherengo
• Russian: кобель

hound (hounds, present participle hounding; simple past and past participle hounded)

1. (transitive) To persistently harass.

   He hounded me for weeks, but I was simply unable to pay back his loan.

2. (transitive) To urge on against; to set (dogs) upon in hunting.
   • 1897, Andrew Lang, The Book of Dreams and Ghosts, page 162:

     We both thought we saw what had the appearance to be a fox, and hounded the dogs at it, but they would not pursue it.

• German: belästigen, nachstellen, verfolgen, jagen
• Russian: пресле́довать

hound (plural hounds)

1. (nautical, in the plural) Projections at the masthead or foremast, serving as a support for the trestletrees and top to rest on; foretop
2. A side bar used to strengthen portions of the running gear of a vehicle.

1. A small village/and/civil parish in Eastleigh (OS grid ref SU4708).