- Home
- Idioms
- hound
hound
hold with the hare and run with the hounds
1. To support or attempt to placate both sides of a conflict or dispute. Many have criticized the US government of holding with the hare and running with the hound regarding the territorial dispute between the two nations.
2. To act duplicitously or hypocritically; to speak or act out against something while engaging or taking part in it. How can you be taken seriously as an anti-drug reformer when extensive documents reveal that you are a frequent user of methamphetamine? You can't hold with the hare and run with the hound, Senator.
hound someone
1. To hunt, chase, or pursue someone relentlessly. Police hounded the suspect for days, pursuing him as far as the border to Mexico, where he was finally arrested.
2. To badger, hector, or pester someone, especially persistently or relentlessly. I wish my boss would stop hounding me about that report. The press hounded the president about the country's involvement in the foreign war.
be hounded (by someone or something)
To be pursued, chased, badgered, or pestered (by someone or something), especially persistently or relentlessly. The president was hounded by the media about the country's involvement in the foreign war. I'm sick of being hounded by you to finish this assignment. The suspect was hounded by police for days, being pursued as far as the border before he was finally arrested.
publicity hound
Someone who seeks to have the attention of the public constantly focused on him- or herself, typically by means of attracting media coverage. The former actor's run at politics is seen by many as just another stunt by a publicity hound desperate to keep the spotlight on himself.
rock hound
1. Someone who professionally studies the origin, history, structure, and composition of the Earth; a geologist. We found some kind of mineral deposit during the dig, so the university is going to send some rock hounds over to have a look at it.
2. An amateur collector of rocks, minerals, gemstones, fossils, etc.; one who collects and/or studies such things as a hobby. Great hike, Dan—nothing to see here but a bunch of boring dirt and stones. Only a rock hound like you could find this interesting!
you can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds
When two parties are in conflict, you can't support both of them—you must choose one. Come on, you can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds—pick a side! You're either in favor of renovating the library, or you're not.
*clean as a hound's tooth
and *clean as a whistle 1. Rur. Cliché very clean. (*Also: as ~.) After his mother scrubbed him thoroughly, the baby was as clean as a hound's tooth. The car was as clean as a whistle after the Girl Scouts washed it.
2. Rur. Cliché innocent and free from sin or wrong. (*Also: as ~.) Jane's record was clean as a whistle; she had never committed even the smallest infraction.
hound someone from some place
and hound someone out (of something or some place)to chase someone out of some place; to force someone out of something or some place. They hounded Joel and his friends from the town. The sheriff hounded Tex out of town.
hound someone or an animal down
to pursue and capture someone or an animal. I will hound the killer down if it takes me the rest of my life. I will hound down that killer if it takes years.
hound someone out
(of something or some place) Go to hound someone from some place.
hound something out of someone
Fig. to force someone to give information. We are going to have to hound the information out of her. We hounded the combination to the safe out of them.
run with someone or something
to stay in the company of someone or some group. Fred was out running with Larry when they met Vernon. Let's go out and run with the other guys this morning.
run with something
1. Lit. to run, showing a particular characteristic. Sally runs with speed and grace. Fred runs with tremendous speed.
2. Fig. to take over something and handle it aggressively and independently. I know that Alice can handle the job. She will take it on and run with it. I hope she runs with this next project.
run with the hare and hunt with the hounds
Fig. to support both sides of a dispute. In our office politics, Sally always tries to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, telling both the clerical workers and the management that she thinks they should prevail.
run with
1. Also,
run around with. Socialize with; see
run around, def. 2.
2. Take as one's own, adopt; also, carry out enthusiastically. For example, He wanted to run with the idea and go public immediately.
3. run with the hare, hunt with the hounds. Support two opposing sides at the same time, as in He wants to increase the magazine's circulation along with its price-that's trying to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds . This expression, alluding to being both hunter and hunted at the same time, dates from the 1400s and was already a proverb in John Heywood's 1546 collection.
run with
v.1. To accompany and participate in the activities of someone or something: Those teenagers run with a wild crowd.
2. To float or sail in the same direction as something:The sailboat ran with the wind all the way to the beach. On the trip back, we can run with the current, and we won't have to paddle the canoe.
3. To adopt something or take something as one's own and then proceed with it: I took their idea for a novel and ran with it.
chow hound
n. someone who loves to eat; a heavy eater. Okay, listen up all you chow hounds. There’s extra beans tonight!
cunt hound
n. a lecher. (Rude and derogatory.) Tod is such a cunt hound. All he thinks about is dames.
hooch hound
and hooch head n. a drunkard. Jed is a classic hooch hound. He lives for the stuff. Hooch heads unite! You have nothing to lose but your brains!
pot hound
and pot sniffer n. a dog trained to sniff out cannabis. (Drugs.) The pot hound at the airport is always busy finding marijuana. A cute beagle named sparky greeted me as today’s “pot sniffer” in the baggage claim area.
clean as a hound's tooth
Completely blemish-free or honest. Another Southern expression; hounds' teeth are apparently cleaner than those of other species. Or perhaps just their canine teeth.