persecute
/ˈpɝsəkjut/ verb C1- To pursue in a manner to do harm or cruelty to; especially, because of the victim's race, sexual identity, or adherence to a particular belief. · He who persecutes one will persecute all.
- To harass with importunity; to pursue with persistent solicitations; to annoy.
- To kill many of one species of animal, with the intent of removing them from human habitats. · Humans have been persecuting wolves in this forest for centuries.
Plural persecute · He/she/it persecutes · Past persecuted · Past participle persecuted · -ing form persecuting
Verb forms
- Base form
- persecute
- He/she/it
- persecutes
- Past
- persecuted
- Past participle
- persecuted
- -ing form
- persecuting
From the library
Yes, indeed, I have often thought with a bitter joy that these riches, which would make the wealth of a dozen families, will be forever lost to those men who persecute me.
When the emperor returned, he wrote, implored, threatened, and so energetically, that on the second restoration he was persecuted as a Bonapartist.
What interest could he have in persecuting the Baskerville family?
Thus Richard III., for instance, was marvellously served by his conscience after the putting away of the two children of Edward IV.; in fact, he could say, ‘These two children of a cruel and persecuting king, who have inherited the vices of their father, which I alone could perceive in their juvenile propensities—these two children are impediments in my way of promoting the happiness of the English people, whose unhappiness they (the children) would infallibly have caused.’ Thus was Lady Macbeth served by her conscience, when she sought to give her son, and not her husband (whatever Shakespeare may say), a throne.
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