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Definition of haunt verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

haunt

verb
 
/hɔːnt/
 
/hɔːnt/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they haunt
 
/hɔːnt/
 
/hɔːnt/
he / she / it haunts
 
/hɔːnts/
 
/hɔːnts/
past simple haunted
 
/ˈhɔːntɪd/
 
/ˈhɔːntɪd/
past participle haunted
 
/ˈhɔːntɪd/
 
/ˈhɔːntɪd/
-ing form haunting
 
/ˈhɔːntɪŋ/
 
/ˈhɔːntɪŋ/
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  1. haunt something/somebody if the ghost of a dead person haunts a place, people say that they have seen it there
    • A headless rider haunts the country lanes.
    • I’ll come back to haunt you!
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • reputedly
    • supposedly
    verb + haunt
    • come back to
    • return to
    See full entry
  2. haunt somebody if something unpleasant haunts you, it keeps coming to your mind so that you cannot forget it
    • The memory of that day still haunts me.
    • For years she was haunted by guilt.
    Extra Examples
    • He will be haunted forever by his failed attempt to rescue the children.
    • These visions continued to haunt her for many years.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • still
    • forever
    verb + haunt
    • continue to
    See full entry
  3. haunt somebody to continue to cause problems for somebody for a long time
    • That decision came back to haunt him.
    • She has been haunted by her past during her career.
    Topics Difficulty and failurec1
  4. Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘frequent (a place)’): from Old French hanter, of Germanic origin; distantly related to home.
See haunt in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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