dare la caccia

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “to give the hunt”. Compare English give chase.

Verb

dàre la caccia (first-person singular present (with syntactic gemination after the verb) dò la caccia, first-person singular past historic dièdi la caccia or diédi la caccia or détti la caccia or (traditional) dètti la caccia, past participle dàto la caccia, first-person singular future darò la caccia, first-person singular subjunctive dìa la caccia, first-person singular imperfect subjunctive déssi la caccia, second-person singular imperative dài la caccia or dà' la caccia, auxiliary avére)

1. (idiomatic, transitive with a) to hunt down; to go after
   • 2020, Barack Obama, chapter 27, in Chicca Galli, Paolo Lucca, Giuseppe Maugeri, transl., Una terra promessa [A Promised Land], Garzanti Libri:

     Le più recenti l'avevano visto dare la caccia a importanti bersagli in Afghanistan.

     ... most recently going after high-value targets in Afghanistan.

     (literally, “The most recent had seen him going after important targets in Afghanistan.”)