quest
a search or pursuit made in order to find or obtain something: a quest for uranium mines;a quest for knowledge.
Classical and Medieval Legend. an adventurous expedition undertaken by a knight or knights to secure or achieve something: the quest of the Holy Grail.
those engaged in such an expedition.
British Dialect. inquest.
Obsolete. a jury of inquest.
to search; seek (often followed by for or after): to quest after hidden treasure.
to go on a quest.
Hunting. (of a dog)
to search for game.
to bay or give tongue in pursuit of game.
to search or seek for; pursue.
Origin of quest
1word story For quest
Quest in the hunting sense “baying of hounds” first appears in the wonderful Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (about 1390). In Arthurian and chivalric romances, quest in the sense “an expedition undertaken by a knight or band of knights to attain a specific goal” dates from Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur (1485).
Other words for quest
1 | hunt, pursuit, search, seeking; journey, mission, undertaking |
Other words from quest
- quester, noun
- quest·ing·ly, adverb
- un·quest·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use quest in a sentence
A true Aries, Franco quests for personal bests, recognizing no competition other than himself.
Forget Oprah—we should all be watching Pixar movies in our quests for self-improvement.
That's the reason why your 'Quests in the Occult' are mainly such rubbish, as far as the evidences are concerned.
Questionable Shapes | William Dean HowellsHis new friend failed, in his mind, to understand the requirements of an English gentleman on such quests.
John Ermine of the Yellowstone | Frederic RemingtonI was hardly prepared for so direct a poser; yet even Arthur's knights sometimes had difficulties financing their quests.
I Walked in Arden | Jack Crawford
Francisco's wanderings in search of 'local color' had included some nocturnal quests.
Port O' Gold | Louis John StellmanMen take to drink or drugs for this same reason: men and women set out on the great adventures, pleasures and quests for this.
The Hive | Will Levington Comfort
British Dictionary definitions for quest
/ (kwɛst) /
the act or an instance of looking for or seeking; search: a quest for diamonds
(in medieval romance) an expedition by a knight or company of knights to accomplish some prescribed task, such as finding the Holy Grail
the object of a search; goal or target: my quest is the treasure of the king
rare a collection of alms
(foll by for or after) to go in search (of)
to go on a quest
(of gun dogs or hounds)
to search for game
to bay when in pursuit of game
rare to collect alms
(also tr) archaic to go in search of (a thing); seek or pursue
Origin of quest
1Derived forms of quest
- quester, noun
- questing, adjective
- questingly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with quest
see under in search of.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Browse