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PlainSpell

chase

/t͡ʃeɪs/noun, verb

chase is spelled C-H-A-S-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,364th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, chase means “The act of one who chases another; a pursuit” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of chase is chases.

How many letters and syllables are in chase?

Letters5: C-H-A-S-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing28 times per million words; the 3,364th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is chase?

Chase appears 28 times per million words in written English, the 3,364th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce chase?

  • /t͡ʃeɪs/

Chase has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-chase.ogg, En-au-chase.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of chase

  • chases plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • chace
  • chasing participle, present
  • chased participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does chase mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The act of one who chases another; a pursuit.

  2. 2

    A hunt; the act of hunting; the pursuit of game.

  3. 3

    A children's game where one player chases another.

  4. 4

    UKA large country estate where game may be shot or hunted.

  5. 5

    Anything being chased, especially a vessel in time of war.

  6. 6

    obsoleteA wild animal that is hunted.

  7. 7

    Any of the guns that fire directly ahead or astern; either a bow chase or stern chase.

  8. 8

    The occurrence of a second bounce by the ball in certain areas of the court, giving the server the chance, later in the game, to "play off" the chase from the receiving end and possibly win the point.

  9. 9

    A rectangular steel or iron frame into which pages or columns of type are locked for printing or plate-making.

  10. 10

    A groove cut in an object; a slot: the chase for the quarrel on a crossbow.

  11. 11

    A trench or channel or other encasement structure for encasing (archaically spelled enchasing) drainpipes or wiring; a hollow space in the wall of a building encasing ventilation ducts, chimney flues, wires, cables or plumbing.

  12. 12

    The part of a gun in front of the trunnions.

  13. 13

    The cavity of a mold.

  14. 14

    A kind of joint by which an overlap joint is changed to a flush joint by means of a gradually deepening rabbet, as at the ends of clinker-built boats.

verb

  1. 1

    To follow at speed.

  2. 2

    To hunt.

  3. 3

    To seek to attain.

    The team are chasing their first home win this season.

  4. 4

    To persistently pursue someone as a sexual or romantic partner.

    He spends all his free time chasing girls.

  5. 5

    To pursue a vessel in order to destroy, capture or interrogate her.

  6. 6

    To consume another beverage immediately after drinking hard liquor, typically something better tasting or less harsh such as soda or beer; to use a drink as a chaser.

    I need something to chase this shot with.

  7. 7

    To attempt to win by scoring the required number of runs in the final innings.

    Australia will be chasing 217 for victory on the final day.

  8. 8

    To swing at a pitch outside of the strike zone, typically an outside pitch.

    Jones chases one out of the zone for strike two.

  9. 9

    To groove; indent.

  10. 10

    To place piping or wiring in a groove encased within a wall or floor, or in a hidden space encased by a wall.

    chase the pipe

  11. 11

    To cut (the thread of a screw).

  12. 12

    To decorate (metal) by engraving or embossing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Chase in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpoursuite (action of the verb "to chase"), poursuivre, chasser (to pursue, to follow at speed)
GermanVerfolgung, Jagd (action of the verb "to chase"), jagen, verfolgen (to pursue, to follow at speed), Jagdgebiet, Jagdgrund (country estate)
Portugueseperseguição (action of the verb "to chase"), caçar, perseguir (to pursue, to follow at speed)
Spanishpersecución (action of the verb "to chase"), perseguir, asenderear (to pursue, to follow at speed), finca de caza, coto de caza (country estate), acanaladura (a groove cut in an object)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does chase come from?

From Middle English chacen, from Anglo-Norman chacer, Old French chacier, from Vulgar Latin *captiāre, from Latin captāre, frequentative of capere. Compare French chasser (“to hunt”, “to chase”), Spanish cazar (“to hunt”), Portuguese caçar (“to hunt”) , see Norwegian skysse (“to hunt”). Doublet of catch and related to capture. Displaced native Old English ōht, ēhtnes, and wāþ. Broadly overtook Old English huntaþ.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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