▪ I. chase, n.1
(tʃeɪs)
Also 4–9 chace, 5 chaas, chasshe, chas, 6 Sc. chaise, chess.
[ME. chace, a. OF. chace (= Pr. cassa, Sp. caza, Pg. ca{cced}a, It. caccia): —Romanic type *captia, f. stem of *captiare: see chase v.]
1. a. The action of chasing or pursuing with intent to catch; pursuit; hunting. See also steeple-chase, wild-goose-chase.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 6 Mest plente of fysch..And mest chase..of wylde bestes. c 1300 K. Alis. 199 Liouns chas..and beore baityng. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 373 Then might nought make sute and chace, Where that the game is nought provable. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xxx. (1495) 793 Yf a hart fynde dowble wayes..that it be harder for the houndes to fynde and to folowe his chaas by odour and smell. 1566 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 393 The Lord Seytoun..brak a chaise upoun Alexander Quhitelaw. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Hist. Jas. V Wks. (1711) 107 The chace and following of hereticks is more necessary than that of infidels. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 307 Three bulls..which they killed after a long and tedious chace. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. iii. (1873) 57 The Carranchas will unite in chace of large birds. 1879 B. Taylor Stud. Germ. Lit. 191 The Silesians made a deliberate chase after elegant and original words. |
b. the chase: the occupation or pastime of hunting wild animals for profit or (more usually) sport; ‘hunting’.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 94 Þat neuer on Friday to wod þou go to chace. 1486 Bk. St. Albans E j a, Beestys of venery, or of chace. 1606 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Pernass. ii. v. (Arb.) 31 Your speciall beasts for chase, or as we huntsmen call it, for venery. 1735 Somerville Chase i. 1 The Chace, I sing, Hounds, and their various Breed. 1777 Robertson Hist. Amer. (1778) I. iv. 268 An Asiatic, who depends for subsistence on the chace. 1790 Cowper Iliad x. 424 As two fleet hounds, sharp fang'd, trained to the chace. 1832 tr. Sismondi's Ital. Rep. ix. 201 Passionately devoted to the chace. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 91 Ardently fond of the chase. 1878 H. M. Stanley Dark Cont. II. xi. 391 Like hunted beasts of the chace. |
c. Pursuit of an enemy; rout. Obs. (exc. as in a).
| c 1325 Coer de L. 6801 There were a thousand prysoners and mo. The chace lested swythe longe. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 27 Þe toþer were affraied, Þat þei went to þer schippes, so hard he sette his chace. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1274 Þemperours men manly made þe chace, & slowen doun bi eche side. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xli. 79 In the Chace mony there War takyn. 1483 Cath. Angl. 59 A chase, fuga. 1513–75 Diurn. Occur. (1833) 37 Thair was not many slain at this chess. 1571 H. Marleborrough in Hanmer's Chron. Irel. (1633) 207 The chase or discomfiture of Ophaly. 1790 Burns Batt. Sheriff-muir iv, The chase gaed frae the north, man. 1809 Wellington in Gurw. Disp. IV. 565 I have been on the pursuit, or rather chace of Soult out of Portugal. |
d. In Naval warfare: The pursuit of a ship.
| 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 3 Wee gave chase to a Turkish Pirat, after halfe a dayes chase, we gave him over. 1669 Sturmy Mariners Mag. i. i. 18 With a Man of War in Chase. Ibid. 19 We have a stearn-Chase, but we shall be up with her presently. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. s.v., A Stern Chase is when the Chaser follows the Chased a-stern, directly upon the same Point of the Compass. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) M, The admiral displayed the signal for a general chace. 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy xxx, This will be a long chase; a stern chase always is. |
e. Phrases: in chase is said both of the chaser and of the chased, as to be in chase (of), have in chase, hold in chase. to give chase (to): to pursue. † fair chase, a fair field; † free chase, free scope, ‘full fling’.
| c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 3250 Thai ne war fayn of that fair chace. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1346 Where he list, Foly hath fre chace. 1573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (1884) 143 Howbeit still all is ace, And there still a fayer chace. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 102 When a hart is in his chase, he is greatly pained in his bowels. 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. vi. 19 Spies of the Volces Held me in chace. 1632 Sanderson 12 Serm. 496 When we have anything in chase. 1634 [see prec. sense]. 1649 Milton Eikon. Wks. 1738 I. 419 What suttle and unpeaceable designs he then had in chace. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn., Brigantine, is a small light Vessel..and is either for Fighting or giving Chase. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 324 Two of the frigates gave us chase. 1797 T. Bewick Brit. Birds (1847) I. 60 It gives chase to small birds on the wing. 1823 Byron Island iii. x, And now the two canoes in chase divide..To baffle the pursuit. a 1842 Macaulay Armada, The tall Pinto till the noon had held her close in chase. |
f. Short for steeplechase n., freq. attrib.
| 1894 M. H. Hayes Among Men & Horses i. 12 The professional[s]..regarded gratuitous chase riding as an unwarrantable attempt to take the bread, or rather the whisky, out of their mouths. 1927 Daily Express 22 June 16 Seamark will seek consolation for chase misfortunes in the valuable Prix des Drags. 1969 D. Francis Enquiry vi. 78 You were riding..in a novice 'chase. |
g. Mus. A sequence of solos by two or more jazz musicians in which each in turn improvises for a few bars. Freq. attrib. orig. U.S.
| 1942 Gems of Jazz IV. 7 It's one of the most exciting ‘chase’ choruses on wax. 1955 L. Feather Encycl. Jazz (1956) 342 The high point of this..performance..is a piano–guitar ‘chase’ sequence by Nat Cole and Les Paul. 1956 M. Stearns Story of Jazz (1957) i. 9 The ‘chase’ choruses of Bix and Tram during the late 'twenties offer another example. |
2. The right of hunting over a tract of country; also, that of keeping beasts of the chase therein.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. 146 Thrughe alle sees and sandys I gyf the the *chace. 1767 Blackstone Comm. II. 38 A man may have a chase in another man's ground as well as his own. 1818 Cruise Digest III. 253 A chace is a franchise or liberty of keeping certain kinds of wild animals within a particular and known district. |
3. A hunting-ground, a tract of unenclosed land reserved for breeding and hunting wild animals; unenclosed park-land.
| a 1440 Sir Degrev. 362 Have ye nat perkus and chas? What schuld ye do a this place. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xiv. 53 Thenne shalle alle the hunters flee awaye fro the chasshe. 1539 Act 31 Hen. VIII, c. 5 A chase..for nourishyng, generacion and feeding of beastes of venery. 1542 Brinklow Compl. iv. (1874) 16 The inclosing of parkys, forestys, and chasys. 1598 J. Manwood Lawes Forest i. (1615) 24 In these three things, a Forest doth differ from a Chase, that is to say, in particular Lawes, in particular Officers, and in certaine Courts. 1679–88 Secr. Serv. Money Chas. & Jas. (1851) 144 Edward Sawyer, keeper of Cranburn Chace, in Windsor Forest. 1798 Malthus Popul. ii. vi. (1806) I. 432 A part of these domains consisted of parks and chaces. 1830 J. G. Strutt Sylva Brit. 28 It is almost the only forest in England in the hands of a subject; by whom, in strict language, only a chase is tenable. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. III. xxi. 543 Their wide enclosed parks, and unenclosed chaces. |
| fig. 1849 De Quincey Eng. Mail Coach Wks. IV. 343 That ancient watery park, that pathless chase of ocean. |
4. a. The object of pursuit; the hunted animal.
| 1393 Gower Conf. III. 208 Fast after the chace he spedde. 1575 Turberv. Bk. Venerie iii. 7 And kill at force, hart, hind..and euery chace. 1677 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat., Hunting (1706) 15 When Hounds..find some Game or Chase, we say They Challenge. 1681 Cotton Wond. Peake 6 For badgors, wolves and foxes..Or for the yet less sort of chaces. 1735 Somerville Chase ii. 178 The frighted Chase leaves her late dear Abodes. 1822 Byron Werner i. i. 62, I have been full oft The chase of Fortune. 1884 Pall Mall G. 5 Mar. 4/1 The intrepid little chase lay dead and mangled. |
b. Naut. The ship chased.
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xii. 56 The shortest way to fetch vp your chase is the best. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. xxix, It was almost dark when we came up with the sternmost chace. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Chace, a vessel pursued by some other. 1883 Century Mag. XXV. 864 The chase opened fire on the Carolina. |
5. Those who hunt, ‘the hunt’.
| 1811 W. Spencer Poems 80 And all the chace rode on. |
6. The chase-guns of a ship (cf. bow-chase, -chasers); the part of the ship where the chase-ports are. stern chase: the chase-guns in the stern.
| 1622 R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 184 The vice-admirall..began with her chace to salute her with three or foure peeces of artillery, and so continued chasing her and gunning at her. Ibid. 190 Doubtlesse it is most proper for shippes to have short ordinance, except in the sterne or chase. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xii. 55 Her Bow and chase so Gally-like contriued, should beare as many Ordnances as..she could. Ibid. xiii. 60 To giue her also your full chase, your weather broadside. 1687 Lond. Gaz. No. 2251/4 Whilst our Stern Chace so galled the rest a Stern. 1748 Anson Voy. iii. viii. 501 The galeon returned the fire with two of her stern-chace. 1795 Lond. Gaz. 3 Feb., Firing at each other their bow and stern chases. |
7. Real Tennis. Applied to the second impact on the floor (or in a gallery) of a ball which the opponent has failed or declined to return; the value of which is determined by the nearness of the spot of impact to the end wall. If the opponent, on sides being changed (see quot. 1653), can ‘better’ this stroke (i.e. cause his ball to rebound nearer the wall) he wins and scores it; if not, it is scored by the first player; until it is so decided, the ‘chase’ is a stroke in abeyance.
Since the distance of the place of impact from the wall is the point of value, the common explanation in Dictionaries is ‘The place where the ball completes its first bound’.
[= F. chasse, It. caccia, Sp. caza, MDu. caetse, from ONF. cache, Du. kaats. Thence Du. kaatsspel i.e. ‘chase-play’, tennis, whence Sc. cachespel, and caich, cach, catch n. 5. The original meaning appeares to be ‘drive’, viz. the driving of the ball to such a point.]
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 68 Chace of tenys play, or oþyr lyke, sistencia, obstaculum, obiculum. 1522 Skelton Why come ye 880 Marke me that chace In the Tennys play. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 403/2 Tindall is a great marker, there is nothing with him now but mark, mark, mark. It is pitie that the man wer not made a marker of chases in some tenis play. 1541 Sir T. Wyatt Defence 263/3 As a man should judge a chace against him at the tennis, wherewith he were not all the best contented. 1591 Florio Sec. Frutes 25 Boye, marke that chace. B. It is marked, and it is a great one [= bad one]. Ibid. I have two chaces. T. The last was not a chace, but a losse. H. Why is it a losse? T. Because you stroke it at the second rebound. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 266 (1623) 72/2 All the Courts of France will be disturb'd With Chaces. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i. lviii, After the two chases are made, he that was in the upper end of the tennis-court goeth out, and the other cometh in. 1696 Phillips, Chace..also in the game of Tenis, the fall of the Ball in such a certain part of the Court, beyond which the opposite Party must strike the Ball next time to gain that stroke. 1820 Hoyle's Games Impr. 357 Marking the chaces. |
8. dial. Haste, hurry.
| 1864 Atkinson Whitby Gloss. s.v. Chass, ‘Tak your awn time ower't, there's nae chass about it.’ |
9. attrib. and Comb., as chase-fight (cf. 1 d); chase-gun, ‘such guns as are removed to the chase-ports ahead or astern, if not pivot-guns’ (Adm. Smyth); chase-halter, a large halter with a long rein used for breaking colts; chase-piece = chase-gun; chase-ports (see quot. 1850); chase-sight, ‘where the sight is usually placed’ (Adm. Smyth).
| 1708 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) VI. 280 A *chase fight to the northward till 7 at night. |
| 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. lxxxii, Raking *chase-guns through our sterns they send. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn., Chase guns, are such whose Ports are either in the Head (and then they are used in chasing of others) or in the Stern, which are only useful when they are pursued or chased by any Ship or Ships. 1748 Anson Voy. iii. viii. (ed. 2) 501 He gave orders to fire upon them with the chace-guns. |
| 1607 Markham Caval. i. (1617) 75 Tye him downe to the manger, and take off his *chase halter. Ibid. ii. iii. 29 Hauing..got a chase halter made of strong Hempe, with the reine aboue three fadome long at the least. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 130 A watering snaffle, and then ouer it a strong soft chasse halter. |
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiii. 60 Giue him a *chase peece with your broad side. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. s.v. Duckup, When a shot is to be made by a chase Piece. |
| Ibid. s.v. Bulk heads, The Bulk-head afore..in which are the *Chase Port. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 106 Chase-ports, the ports at the bows, or through the stern of the ship. The former..are called bow-chasers. |
▸ chase scene n. Film and Television an action sequence, often featuring stunts, which centres on a pursuit.
| 1906 Fort Wayne (Indiana) News (Electronic text) 9 July The moving picture at the close is one of those amusing *chase scenes. 1926 Variety 11 Aug. 11/1 A chase scene is a bear. It's of Don Juan carrying his Adriana away, followed by about a dozen swordsmen on horses. 1999 T. Etchells Endland Stories 124 Void House is the place where they shot the famous chase scenes for the end of Bone Grafters II. |
▪ II. chase, n.2
(tʃeɪs)
[a. F. châsse, in OF. chasce, chasse, shrine of relics, setting of gems, casing, case:—L. capsa ‘repository, box, case’, f. cap-ĕre to take, receive. (It is doubtful whether sense 2 belongs here; cf. next, and L. capsus enclosure).]
1. The ‘setting’ of a gem.
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, La Saillie & cabochon d'vne pierre preétieuse taillée en bosse, the chase wherein a precious stone is enclosed. |
2. Printing. The quadrangular iron frame in which the composed type for a page or sheet is arranged in columns or pages, and ‘locked up’ by the quoins or wedges, so as to be placed in the press.
| 1612 Sturtevaut Metallica (1854) 78 A Printing Presse hath his seuerall parts..as the screw, the nut, the pear-tree, and the chase. 1656 W. Dugard Gate Lat. Unl. §492. 143 The Compositor..closeth them with chases, (lest they slip out). 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metals II. 207 The form..properly arranged and confined by quoins or wedges within an iron frame, denominated a chase. |
▪ III. chase, n.3
(tʃeɪs)
[a. F. chas, orig. ‘enclosure, enclosed place’, needle-eye, etc. (= It. casso):—late L. capsum, thorax, hollow of the chest, ‘locus conclusus’; a parallel form to L. capsa, capsus, f. capĕre to take, receive, contain.]
General sense: A lengthened hollow, groove, or furrow.
† 1. The hollow furrow or ‘gutter’ on a cross-bow wherein the arrow lies. Obs.
| 1611 Cotgr., Coulisse d'un arbaleste, the hollow furrow wherein the arrow lyes; we call it, the gutter, or chace (of a crosse-bow). |
2. The cavity of a gun barrel; the part of a gun which contains the bore; the part in front of the trunnions (or, sometimes, between the trunnions and the swell of the muzzle).
| 1647 Nye Gunnery i. 47 Every Gunner ought to try his Piece, whether it be not wider in the mouth than the rest of the chase. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. s.v. Ordnance, The whole Cavity or Bore of the Piece is called her Chase. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) I iij b, The chace comprehends the ogee nearest to the second reinforce-ring; the chace-girdle and astragal; and the muzzle and astragal. Ibid. Rr iij b, The shot would..roll out of the chace. 1859 F. Griffiths Artil. Man. Plate (1862) 50. 1860 Tennent Story Guns (1864) 213. 1876 Daily News 20 Oct. 3/3 Obtained by elongating the chase or barrel of the gun. |
3. A groove made to receive something which lies within or passes through it: e.g. a. A groove cut in the face of a wall, to receive a pipe, etc. b. A trench cut for the reception of drain tiles. c. The curved water-way in which a breast-wheel rotates, so as to confine the water.
| 1871 Week's News 7 Jan. 5 It would be quite practicable to carry the pipes up in a chase by the side of the kitchen flue, and to place the cistern near the chimney stack. |
4. a. Carpentry. ‘A score cut lengthwise for a tenon to be fixed in, as the tenon at the heels of pillars, etc.’ (Weale Rudim. Navig. 106.)
| 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 311 These joints should be chased or indented, and such chases filled with lead. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 144 A large pillar..with its..end tenoned into a chase. |
b. Shipbuilding. A kind of joint by which the overlapping joint of clinker-built boats gradually passes at the stem and stern into a flush joint as in carvel-built boats; this is done by taking a gradually-deepening rabbet out of each edge at the lands.
5. See quot.
| 1794 J. Clark Agric. Surv. Heref. 40 Chase, a stone trough used in cider-making, into which apples are thrown, and then crushed by a stone drawn by a horse into a kind of paste, provincially must. |
6. The apex of a cop or bobbin of a spinning-wheel.
| 1902 Hannan Textile Fibres of Commerce 124 The shoulder acts as a good support to the chase of the cop in winding. |
7. Comb., as chase-hooped a., (of a gun) having the chase strengthened by hoops; so chase-hooping; chase-mortice (from 4), ‘a long mortise cut lengthwise in one of a pair of parallel timbers, for the insertion of one end of a transverse timber by making the latter revolve round a centre at the other end, which is fixed in the other parallel timber’ (Gwilt).
| 1886 Pall Mall G. 8 Sept. 6/2 The other 43-ton guns were to be *chase-hooped. |
| 1888 Ibid. 1 June 4/2 Alterations of designs, modifications of tests, *chase-hooping. |
| 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metals II. 251 On the top of these crank shafts are moving crank heads, with a *chase mortice in each. |
▪ IV. chase, n.4 dial.
(tʃeɪs)
Also chace.
[Cf. Fr. dial. (Norm.) chasse, un petit chemin (Duméril).]
A green lane, esp. one leading up to a farm-house or field. Also chace-lane, chase-way.
| 1639 in Connecticut Hist. Soc. Coll. XIV. 331 A Chasse lane leading from the litle Riuer to the meeting house. c 1640 Ibid. 393 Abuting on the..Cheace way alley to the metting house. 1685 Ibid. 366 The chase lane. 1804 in E.D.D. 1904 Essex Rev. Apr. 117 The green lanes, which in some counties are called ‘ridings’, ‘driftways’, or ‘bridle roads’, are called hereabouts by the name of ‘chaces’, or ‘chace-ways’. 1943 N. & Q. 25 Sept. 201 Chase, green track to farmhouse or field. E. Ang. 1960 Times 15 June 14/6 Our seawall is reached by what we call locally a ‘chase’. |
▪ V. chase, v.1
(tʃeɪs)
Forms: 4 chace-n, chaci, chacy, chasce-n, 4–5 chass(e, (5 chas, chasy, schase, 6 Sc. chaiss), 4–9 chace, 4– chase.
[ME. a. OF. chacie-r, later chascie-r, chasse-r. in 11th c. cacer (ONF. cacher, Pr. cassar, Sp. cazar, Pg. ca{cced}ar, It. cacciare):—late L. *captiāre, used instead of captāre (freq. of capĕre to take) to seize, catch, in late L. also ‘to chase, hunt’: see Du Cange. The ONF. form cacher, gave catch, which had at first both senses ‘chase’ and ‘catch,’ but was at length differentiated, and confined to the latter.]
I. To pursue with a view to catching.
1. a. trans. To pursue for prey or sport; to hunt.
| c 1314 Guy Warw. (A.) 1206 Þe hert to chacen and þe hinde. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 2741 Tristrem on huntinge rade, An hert chaci bigan. c 1440 Ipomydon 64 In wodde to chase the wild dere. 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. v. 37 That wont in charet chace the foming bore. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 126 The practise of hunting, chasing and taming Elephants. 1753 Hogarth Anal. Beauty v. 24 Cats will risk the losing of their prey, to chase it over again. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc v. 464 Where I have..Chaced the gay butterfly from flower to flower. 1859 Tennyson Vivien 406 For here we met..To chase..the hart with golden horns. |
b. fig.
| 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. iii. 128 To rowze his Wrongs and chase them to the bay. 1596 ― Merch. V. ii. vi. 13 All things that are, Are with more spirit chased than enjoy'd. 1784 Burns Green grow the Rashes, The war'ly race may riches chase. 1847 Tennyson Princ. ii. 386 Do I chase The substance or the shadow? |
† c. intr. (absol.) To hunt, go hunting. Obs.
| c 1320 Sir Beues 194 Þat erl swor..In þat forest he wolde chace, Þat bor to take. c 1400 Mandeville vi. 64 Thei..chacen aftre Bestes, to eten hem. 1486 Bk. St. Albans E vj b, Iff youre houndis chase at hert or at haare. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xxvii. 78 On a day he chased in the wodes. |
d. trans. To pursue (a member of the opposite sex) amorously; also with after, and intr.
| 1894 [implied at chaser1 2 b]. 1929 W. Faulkner Sound & Fury 96 Ah let him alone..if he's got better sense than to chase after the little dirty sluts, whose business. 1930 Brophy & Partridge Songs & Slang 1914–18 193 At other periods the phrase was, ‘Chase me, girls!’;..‘Ginger, you're barmy!’..and so on. 1946 Lingua (Cape Town) May 2 The popular ‘chase’—‘he's chasing a dame in Wynberg’—is not recorded elsewhere with this meaning which may be peculiar to South Africa. 1952 E. O'Neill Moon for Misbegotten i. 55 He doesn't give wild parties, doesn't chase after musical-comedy cuties. 1964 Wodehouse Frozen Assets vi. 113 He drank like a fish and was always chasing girls. 1979 Tucson Mag. Jan. 30/3 He recommended two [agents] who..wouldn't chase me around a couch. 1986 P. Booth Palm Beach i. 14 Her husband had been chasing the prettier female staff for years now. |
e. fig. to chase up: to pursue (a matter, person, etc.) vigorously with a specific purpose, esp. after an earlier unsatisfactory response; to make efforts to find or obtain quickly. colloq.
| 1958 J. Cannan And be a Villain v. 117 People won't come forward but if you chase them up they're quite ready to tell you what they've seen. 1985 Guardian 9 Nov. 21/4 By taking only the best payers, NHL avoids the troubles of chasing up debts. |
2. a. To pursue (a flying enemy).
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 16 Right vnto Donkastre þe Danes gan him chace. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 1008 Yowr lord fled out of the place, And the tother gan hym chace Heder into his awyn halde. 1535 Coverdale Prov. xxviii. 1 The vngodly flyeth no man chasynge him. 1839 Thirlwall Greece V. 19 His appearance..put them to flight, and he chased them back to Olynthus with a loss of eighty men. 1886 Manch. Exam. 7 Jan. 5/2 A large crowd..chased the process-server and attacked the police. |
b. esp. To pursue (a ship) at sea.
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xii. 56 In giuing chase or chasing, or to escape being chased, there is required an infinite iudgement. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1698) I. vii. 174 We saw a small white Island which we chased, supposing it had been a Sail. 1727 Swift Gulliver iii. i. 178 We were chased by two pirates, who soon overtook us. 1788 Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1840 I. 224 We were several times chased in our passage. 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy xiii. 42 The boats were constantly out, chasing the vessels along shore. |
† c. fig. To persecute, harass. Obs.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6704 Þe strenthe of hungre sal þam swa chace Þat þair awen flesshe þar sal of-race. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶452 Preyeth for hem..that yow chacen and pursewen. ? c 1460 Belle Dame 287 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 61 But fervent love too sore me hath y-chaced. 1596 B. Griffin Fidessa xxix, Griefs, chase this earth, that it may fade with anguish. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. v. i. 217 Though Fortune, visible an Enemie, Should chase vs. |
d. intr. or absol. (Former const. after.)
| 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 53 He..styntyt swagat the chassaris, That nane durst owt off batall chass. c 1450 Erle Tolous 446 Aftur hym yorne they chaste. 1611 Bible 1 Sam. xvii. 53 The children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines. 1748 Anson's Voy. i. iv. (ed. 2) 52 We let our reefs and chased with the squadron. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. xv, ‘Horse! horse!’ the Douglas cried, ‘and chase!’ 1842 Tennyson Captain 33 ‘Chase,’ he said: the ship flew forward. |
3. trans. To pursue or run after in play.
| 1830 Tennyson Merman ii, And then we would wander away, away..Chasing each other merrily. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. I. 202 Lovely shapes in marble..chasing one another round the sides. |
4. fig. To call upon (a person) to fill up his glass; to push the bottle towards. Cf. hunt.
| 1824 Scott Redgauntlet let. i, Why, when I fill this very glass of wine, cannot I push the bottle to you, and say ‘Fairford, you're chased’? |
† 5. fig. to chase forth: to pursue (a narrative).
| c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 285 But shortly forth this matere for to chace. Ibid. 337 And shortly forth this tale for to chace. |
6. intr. To run with speed; to hurry or rush along. (Cf. catch v. 2.) Also with off (in pursuit of something).
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 51 To a iustes in iherusalem he chaced awey faste. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10436 Þen Achilles come chaseand with a choise wepyn. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. iv. 29 Now chacing to and fro, Now hurtling round advantage for to take. 1920 R. Macaulay Potterism iv. i. 172 Aunt Cynthia chased off after another exciting subject, and that was all about Gideon. |
II. To cause to move off or depart precipitately.
7. a. trans. To drive forcibly and precipitately from, out of, to, into, etc. (a place or position).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 3766 Þis esau wit his manace Oute o þe land did iacob chace. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 8003 Þai salle be chaced ogayne þair wille Tylle alle manere of thing þat es ille. 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 237 Distroie synne & chasse it out of londe. c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 268 Chaced from oure heritage. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 113 As the smoke chaseth men out of theyr owne hous. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 134 Loue hath chas'd sleepe from my enthralled eyes. 1636 E. Dacres tr. Machiavel's Disc. Livy I. 191 The Principal men of the Citie being chac't out of Florence. 1661 Bramhall Just Vind. ii. 11 They have..separated us & chased us from their communion. 1801 Med. Jrnl. V. 112 A..method of chacing from the earth one of its bitterest maladies. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 207 They had repeatedly chased him into banishment. |
b. with advbs. away, forth, out, about, etc.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4316 He sal..chace þe wyndes about and þe ayre. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 955 Þe oþre.. chacyeþ forþ Olyuere. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 94 Than is it chased sore about, Till it to fire and leit be falle. c 1400 Mandeville Prol. (1839) 3 To..chacen out alle the mysbeleevynge men. c 1450 Crt. of Love iv, Of ignoraunce the mist to chase away. 1513 Douglas æneis x. v. 104 Vpspryngis the brycht day, Chasand the cloudis of the nycht away. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 293 Theyr hope..chaceth awaye all euyll feares. 1715–20 Pope Iliad xvi. 61 Thy mere image [shall] chace her foes away. |
c. refl. To betake (oneself), to go or run away; to depart; esp. in phr. go (and) chase yourself. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
| 1883 G. W. Peck Mirth for Millions 79 O, you go and chase yourself. That is not small-pox Pa has got. 1893 S. Crane Maggie (1896) xv. 118 Go chase yerself. 1916 C. J. Dennis Songs of Sentimental Bloke 119 Chase yourself, depart; avaunt; ‘fade away’. 1923 R. D. Paine Comr. Rolling Ocean xii. 206 Let him rest, Kid. You chase yourself below and look things over. 1937 A. Christie Dumb Witness xiii. 138 Your friend..looks shocked. Shall we send him out to chase himself round the block? 1943 J. S. Huxley TVA 74 Engineers apparently accepted the architect for what he said he was: dispenser of divine revelation in the realm of æsthetics. But they also told him to chase himself if he ventured beyond. 1959 Listener 8 Jan. 56/2 Some people will tell you to go and chase yourself. Others will just ignore you. 1968 ‘P. Hobson’ Titty's Dead v. 66 She was mentioning..that she had had enough of policemen for the day. And, mm-m, that you could go chase yourself. |
8. To put to flight, scatter in flight, rout; to dispel = chase away in 7 b. Obs. or arch.
| c 1300 K. Alis. 1754 Y schal wynne the maistrie Of Darie, and him so chase, And his men. a 1340 Hampole Psalter Prol., Þe sange of psalmes chases fendis. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. xxviii. (1495) 562 Crisolitus..ferith fendes and chasseth them. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 29 The Danes were chased, and the Englishe men had the victory. 1610 Shakes. Temp. v. i. 67 Their rising sences Begin to chace the ignorant fumes that mantle Their cleerer reason. 1705 Pope Ep. Miss Blount 37 Marriage may all those petty Tyrants chase. 1792 S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. ii. 9 Whose constant vigils chase the chilling damp. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. ii. xvii, To chase the spirits that love the night. |
† 9. To clear (a place) of (its inhabitants, etc., by driving them out). Obs. rare—1.
| 1655–60 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 118/2 The Lacedæmonians..chasing Scilluns of the Eleans, built a Town there. |
† 10. To drive (cattle, etc.). Obs.
| c 1400 Mandeville 249 Thei beren..a lytille Whippe in hire Hondes, for to chacen with hire Hors. [c 1440 Promp Parv. 58 Chasyn or drvye furþe [1499 catchyn or dryue forth bestis], mino.] 1620 J. Wilkinson Courts Baron 147 If any Tenant..bring cattell from his other farme unto his farme within this Manor..this is called chasing and rechasing. 1670 Blount Law Dict., Chase..a driving Cattle to or from any place; as to chase a Distress to a Fortlet. 1863 Atkinson Danby Provinc., ‘Chassin' tharro's’, driving the horses which are drawing the harrows. |
11. chase me, Charley: (a) a catch-phrase; (b) (see quot. 1945).
| 1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands xi. 138 The printers cried: ‘Chase me, Charley!’ 1922 Joyce Ulysses 504 Chase me, Charley! Buzz! 1945 Newsweek 4 June 90 Off the coast of Italy in 1943, British fighter pilots ran into a new German weapon trained on Allied shipping. It was a small glider with a bomb for a body. Directed by remote control from a launching plane, the device assumed attack position and hurtled itself at the target, where it exploded. The British named it ‘Chase-me-Charlie’. 1961 W. Vaughan-Thomas Anzio vii. 133 The Germans had aimed another wireless-controlled bomb at the fleet—a ‘chase-me-Charlie’ the British seamen called it. |
▪ VI. chase, v.2
(tʃeɪs)
[App. short for enchase; French has enchâsser, but no châsser.]
1. trans. To adorn (metal, plate, etc.) with work embossed or engraved in relief; to engrave a surface. See also chased ppl. a.2
| 1438 [see chased ppl. a.2]. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Enchasser en or, to chace in gold. 1862 Athenæum 30 Aug. 277 The great golden statues may have been cut up into rings, and chased by Woeiriot of Lorraine. 1879 H. Phillips Addit. Notes Coins 3 This medal appears to have been chased by hand and not to have been struck from a die. 1879 Jefferies Wild Life in S.C. 191 Sometimes a pole which has been lying by..is found to be curiously chased, as it were, all over the surface under the loose bark by creeping things. 1885 Manch. Exam. 5 June 8/6 Apparatus..for chasing, glazing, and embossing cloth. |
2. To set with (gems, etc.).
| 1536–40 Pilgrim's T. 330 in Thynne's Animadv. (1865) App. i. 86 Most rychestly chast with margarites euery dell. |
b. To ‘set’ (a gem, etc.) in. (See enchase.) Also fig. rare.
| 1859 Tennyson Enid 1047 And close beneath, a meadow gemlike chased In the brown wild, and mowers mowing in it. |
▪ VII. chase, v.3
[f. chase n.3]
To groove, indent.
| 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 311 These joints should be chased or indented, and such chases filled with lead. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 106 Chased about into the carlings. |
▪ VIII. chase
obs. pa. tense of choose.