chase down
phr. v..phr. v.. to follow or hunt for someone or something until you finally catch them or find what you need.
phr. v.. to pursue a person or object persistently until capture or location is achieved; often used metaphorically for tracking down information or documents.
I need to chase down my boss to sign this form.
The police managed to chase down the suspect after a brief pursuit through the park.
Journalists spent months trying to chase down the original source of the leaked documents to verify their authenticity.
- Particles
- down
- Separability
- optional
- Pattern
- chase + [object] + down
commonly used with physical targets like people or abstract targets like information and signatures.
highlight the nuance of persistence; unlike 'chase', 'chase down' implies a successful conclusion where the object is finally reached or obtained.
I chased down to him.I chased him down.this phrasal verb is transitive and does not take the preposition 'to' before the object.