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Webster 1913 Edition

Haunt

Haunt

(hänt; 277)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Haunted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Haunting
.]
[F.
hanter
; of uncertain origin, perh. from an assumed LL.
ambitare
to go about, fr. L.
ambire
(see
Ambition
); or cf. Icel.
heimta
to demand, regain, akin to
heim
home (see
Home
). √36.]
1.
To frequent; to resort to frequently; to visit pertinaciously or intrusively; to intrude upon.
You wrong me, sir, thus still to
haunt
my house.
Shakespeare
Those cares that
haunt
the court and town.
Swift.
2.
To inhabit or frequent as a specter; to visit as a ghost or apparition; – said of spirits or ghosts, especially of dead people;
as, the murdered man
haunts
the house where he died
.
Foul spirits
haunt
my resting place.
Fairfax.
3.
To practice; to devote one’s self to.
[Obs.]
That other merchandise that men
haunt
with fraud . . . is cursed.
Chaucer.
Leave honest pleasure, and
haunt
no good pastime.
Ascham.
4.
To accustom; to habituate.
[Obs.]
Haunt
thyself to pity.
Wyclif.

Haunt

,
Verb.
I.
To persist in staying or visiting.
I've charged thee not to
haunt
about my doors.
Shakespeare

Haunt

,
Noun.
1.
A place to which one frequently resorts;
as, drinking saloons are the
haunts
of tipplers; a den is the
haunt
of wild beasts.
☞ In Old English the place occupied by any one as a dwelling or in his business was called a haunt.
Often used figuratively.
The household nook,
The
haunt
of all affections pure.
Keble.
The feeble soul, a
haunt
of fears.
Tennyson.
2.
The habit of resorting to a place.
[Obs.]
The
haunt
you have got about the courts.
Arbuthnot.
3.
Practice; skill.
[Obs.]
Of clothmaking she hadde such an
haunt
.
Chaucer.

Webster 1828 Edition

Haunt

H`AUNT

, v.t.
1.
To frequent; to resort to much or often, or to be much about; to visit customarily.
Celestial Venus haunts Idalia's groves.
2.
To come to frequently; to intrude on; to trouble with frequent visits; to follow importunately.
You wrong me, Sir, thus still to haunt my house.
Those cares that haunt the court and town.
3.
It is particularly applied to specters or apparitions, which are represented by fear and credulity as frequenting or inhabiting old, decayed and deserted houses.
Foul spirits haunt my resting place.

H`AUNT

,
Verb.
I.
To be much about; to visit or be present often.
I've charged thee not to haunt about my door.

H`AUNT

,
Noun.
A place to which one frequently resorts. Taverns are often the haunts of tipplers. A den is the haunt of wild beasts.
1.
The habit or custom of resorting to a place. [Not used.]
2.
Custom; practice.

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