Whats the difference between 'to hunt' and 'to hunt down'?

Question

Whats the difference between 'to hunt' and 'to hunt down'?

Answer 1

I would say to hunt means you go after animals but to hunt down an animal means you are set to kill it.. to hunt a criminal .. you are on the look out for that person but to hunt him down means you got him... and you take him prisoner.. to hunt down a person as a stalker would mean you actually intrude into their life and make their life h**l for them.. to just watch them is stalking too, but to actually go in for the ''kill'' means you invade their lives and they know there is someone out there who is stalking them...and that they are being victimized.

Answer 2

Well "to hunt" is basically just used when referring to hunting animals.

The second could be used by a stalker who would say, "I'm going to hunt you down.". You could also you it if your looking for something, like "I'm trying to hunt down my phone", or "I'm trying to hunt down that research paper I printed out".

Answer 3

"to hunt" is the act of hunting in general, "to hunt down" is to hunt a specific prey.