Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PUR-SUE', v.t. [Fr. poursuivre; pour and suivre, to follow, L. sequor; prosequor, or persequor. See Seek.]

1. To follow; to go or proceed after or in a like direction. The captain pursued the same course as former navigators have taken. A subsequent legislature pursued the course of their predecessors.
2. To take and proceed in, without following another. Captain Cook pursued a new and unexplored course. New circumstances often compel us to pursue new expedients and untried courses. What course shall we pursue?
3. To follow with a view to overtake; to follow with haste; to chase; as, to pursue a hare; to pursue an enemy.
4. To seek; to use measures to obtain; as, to pursue a remedy at law.
5. To prosecute; to continue. A stream proceeds from a lake and pursues a southerly course to the ocean. He that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death. – Prov. xi.
6. To follow as an example; to imitate. The fame of ancient matrons you pursue. – Dryden.
7. To endeavor to attain to; to strive to reach or gain. We happiness pursue; we fly from pain. – Prior.
8. To follow with enmity; to persecute. This verb is frequently followed by after. – Gen. xxxv.