give chase


Pursue, as in The police gave chase to the robber. [c. 1700]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use give chase in a sentence

  • One of the other cops fired three times and those who were still able to give chase did.

  • His solution last season was to give chase a big flop and make him work superhard (by Chase's standards, anyway) for a comeback.

    Where's Vinny? | Sean Macaulay | October 2, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Some he ordered off to the stables to get horses, for if Garnache had survived his leap and swum the moat, they must give chase.

    St. Martin's Summer | Rafael Sabatini
  • He proposed that I might pilot the two-seater while he followed and pretended to give chase in an Albatross scout.

  • One of the commanders asked permission to give chase, but Decatur signaled back "Do nothing to excite suspicion."

    Historic Adventures | Rupert S. Holland