hunt down

hunt + down

hunt down (third-person singular simple present hunts down, present participle hunting down, simple past and past participle hunted down)

1. (transitive) To hunt something and capture or kill it.
2. (transitive) To destroy by persecution or violence.
3. (transitive, colloquial) To find with difficulty.

   I managed to hunt down a surviving copy of the magazine.

   • 2013 July 26, Nick Miroff, “Mexico gets a taste for eating insects …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 32:

     The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters such as ostrich, wild boar and crocodile.