1Follow or chase (someone or something)

警官追赶那辆厢式货车。

〈喻〉一个负债累累的商人被债主们逼得走投无路。

1. 1.1 Persistently seek to form a sexual relationship with (someone)
   （以持续或穷追不舍的方式）竭力引诱
   Sophie was being pursued by a number of men

   索菲遭到好几个男人的纠缠。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • I do not think this is the case, because before I pursued him, he had no other past relationships.
   • Tom is instantly smitten and pursues her with gentle persistence that borders on obsessive, finally winning her over and, in the fullness of a few days, popping the big question.
   • Keaton looks fantastic, to the extent that when Keanu Reeves's charming doctor persistently pursues her, we're not in the least surprised.
   • He has become an itinerant preacher, but his temporary religious conversion does not prevent him from persistently pursuing her.
   • Since Anna seems to do better and be stronger emotionally when she is pursued or already in a relationship, I sincerely hope that she meets someone soon.
   • Women will often pursue short-term sexual relationships, most typically as a means to secure material or other resources for themselves or their children.
   • It does seem to be that, despite the many successes of feminism, the last area to undergo change is our sense of who pursues and who is pursued in a relationship.
   • The War Zone is a brutal portrait of a family in denial, a family whose father figure is also pursuing a sexual relationship with his teenage daughter.
   • A stalker who tried to pursue a Lady Chatterley-style relationship with an Earl's daughter has been given a suspended jail sentence for flouting a court order to leave her alone.
   • Like Haynes, Fassbinder was a cinephile who used Hollywood's tropes to pursue his own sexual and political agendas.
   • Both Casim and Roisin have broken with any sort of religious orthodoxy and are merely seeking to pursue their relationship and lives unhindered by family and social pressures.
   • For many parents, no situation is more troubling than knowing a child is continuing to pursue a sexual relationship even after the parent has forbidden it.

   Synonyms

   woo, court, pay court to, pay suit to, chase after, chase, run after

   informal make up to

   dated make love to, romance, set one's cap at, seek the hand of, pay addresses to
2. 1.2 Seek to attain or accomplish (a goal) over a long period.
   （尤指长期）追求，寻求；获得；达到（目标）
   should people pursue their own happiness at the expense of others?

   人们是否可以以牺牲他人为代价来追求自己的幸福？

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Instead, by letting themselves always yet never fully imitated by the cyborg, the human now pursues a more ambitious goal of taking the place of ‘Being.’
   • But we must pursue and accomplish our goals of building Inuktitut resources and curriculum.
   • Last spring, Alexis O'Hara brought her third year of organizing the Montreal Slam to a halt in order to pursue her own artistic goals.
   • At the end, it was clear that Bessy had succeeded in infusing her passion for dance into the hearts and bodies of her students, and is now ready to pursue her latest goal: freedom.
   • The core of feminism is about choice, and the right to pursue one's life goals, whatever those are.
   • This step requires a delicate balance between the patient's right to informed consent and the goal of pursuing the most appropriate therapy.

   Synonyms

   strive for, push towards, work towards, try for, seek, search for, quest (after), be intent on, aim at/for, have as a goal, have as an objective, aspire to
3. 1.3archaic, literary (of something unpleasant) persistently afflict (someone)
   〈古或诗/文〉（令人不快的事）困扰，纠缠
   mercy lasts as long as sin pursues man

   只要罪过纠缠着人类，怜悯就会存在下去。

   Synonyms

   trouble, bother, burden, distress, cause trouble to, cause suffering to, beset, harass, worry, oppress, annoy, vex, irritate, exasperate, strain, stress, tax

2Continue or proceed along (a path or route)

这条路直线穿过灌木丛林。

1. 2.1 Engage in (an activity or course of action)
   从事，忙于（活动）；实行，采取（行动路线）
   Andrew was determined to pursue a computer career

   安德鲁决心从事计算机行业。

   the council decided not to pursue an appeal

   委员会决定不提出上诉。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Cities must have true authority over land-use planning and the power to pursue progressive growth policies and manage density, form, and design.
   • For developing economies, much of the emphasis is on increasing assistance to those developing countries that pursue constructive growth policies.
   • At the present time the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is a federal executive authority, which pursues State policy and engages in State administration in matters of defense.
   • It is incredible that the powers that be refused to engage with such a central character before pursuing their drastic course on the company's future.
   • The exhibition, which opened on Monday, sought to provide an exposure to career opportunities available for girls pursuing diploma courses offered by polytechnics.
   • This tendency will discourage any U.S. president from pursuing an activist foreign policy, because public support for it will be thin.
   • Throughout his career, Kepes pursued his own art-making activities, producing a large body of photographic works and paintings.
   • Knowledge is what we need to pursue the second-most important activity in which our kind can engage - the creation of beauty.
   • It's one thing to examine the options, it is another to pursue a determined course of action to achieve a concrete result.
   • Not only is it supported by non-smokers, but a majority of smokers also approve of a measure which will prevent them from pursuing this traditionally convivial activity in pubs, clubs and restaurants.
   • I do not believe that the University can now be criticised for refusing to depart from policy by reinstating the Applicant to pursue a new course of research under a different supervisor.
   • The stalls put up by some catering institutes and agencies for higher education abroad came in handy for those who wanted to pursue special courses.
   • He is now pursuing a degree course in computer programming in Castlebar College.
   • He also demonstrated the limits of the government and the presidency to produce social change and to pursue an activist foreign policy.
   • By the age of 10, girls were banished to their boudoirs, barred from venturing out or pursuing anything but domestic activities.
   • It was, of course, a mistake for him to pursue the Labour leadership.
   • Roosevelt pursued a more activist course in his second term.
   • For many, deciding to pursue this course of study is as threatening as moving out of home.
   • The direction being pursued in public policy is unclear in these places.
   • Both these singers did not take up film singing as a career and pursued music-related activities outside the industry.

   Synonyms

   engage in, be engaged in, be occupied in, participate in, take part in, work at, practise, follow, prosecute, conduct, ply, apply oneself to, go in for, take up
2. 2.2 Continue to investigate or explore (an idea or argument)
   继续调查，探究，讨论（题目，想法，论点）
   we shall not pursue the matter any further

   我们将不再深究此事。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Several lines of inquiry have been pursued and the investigation is continuing.
   • And the correspondence is evidence that he was not alone in thinking along those lines, even if he did pursue the idea more single-mindedly than others did.
   • The lines of the argument itself will be pursued in a day or so in Part II.
   • That's why it's so critically important that we continue to pursue the war against terrorism from a global standpoint.
   • I guess they're concerned whether an FBI agent will come out and pursue this so-called active investigation.
   • He pointed out that with an open economy such a tax may reduce foreign investment in the taxing country and increase overseas investment, but he did not pursue this argument.
   • Paul said investigators would pursue an ‘aggressive investigation’ to bring those responsible for the act to justice.
   • Birkeland continued to pursue his ideas, but over time the quality of his work declined.
   • But in many other respects I found it actually was a kind of an obstacle, and so I'd kind of given up the idea of pursuing a Buddhist monastic life in Europe.
   • Such disclosure was pursuing a legitimate investigative purpose, but restrictions were placed on the authority's right to use the information to ensure that it was used only for the purposes specified.
   • Two national charities have benefited from a novel idea which was pursued by a Newport man as a fund-raiser in the Dublin City Marathon.
   • This is meant to encourage researchers to pursue their ideas more freely if the payoff is potentially significant.
   • Back in Japan he devoted nearly all his time and energy in pursuing Socialist ideas.
   • Researchers around the world continue to pursue the idea, however.
   • I now left the Huntsman's Lodge without pursuing this undoubtedly absurd idea, which would assuredly have proved correct had I developed it.
   • It's good to take well paid jobs, because that gives you the time to pursue the less obvious ideas, and room to develop your own products.
   • All of the information collated here is part of a wider investigation currently being pursued by a number of media outlets.
   • But she said the quantity is large enough that investigators are only pursuing one out of every three accusations.
   • So you think, even though they agreed today for this dignified statement, they still continue to pursue a concept of blaming the dead?
   • It should not be pursued with the idea of earning.

   Synonyms

   conduct, undertake, follow, carry on, devote oneself to, go on with, proceed with, go ahead with, keep/carry on with, continue with, continue, take further, prosecute, persist in, stick with/at

   investigate, research, enquire into, look into, examine, study, review, check, scrutinize, analyse, delve into, dig into, probe