QUEST

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does quest mean? 

• QUEST (noun)
  The noun QUEST has 2 senses:

1. a search for an alternative that meets cognitive criteria

2. the act of searching for something

  Familiarity information: QUEST used as a noun is rare.

• QUEST (verb)
  The verb QUEST has 5 senses:

1. make a search (for)

2. search the trail of (game)

3. bark with prolonged noises, of dogs

4. seek alms, as for religious purposes

5. express the need or desire for

  Familiarity information: QUEST used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• QUEST (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A search for an alternative that meets cognitive criteria

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

pursuance; pursuit; quest

Context example:

a quest for wealth

Hypernyms ("quest" is a kind of...):

search (the examination of alternative hypotheses)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "quest"):

wild-goose chase (the fruitless pursuit of something unattainable)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of searching for something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

quest; seeking

Context example:

a quest for diamonds

Hypernyms ("quest" is a kind of...):

hunt; hunting; search (the activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone)

Derivation:

quest (make a search (for))

• QUEST (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they quest    ... he / she / it quests   
Past simple: quested   
Past participle: quested   
-ing form: questing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a search (for)

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

The animal came questing through the forest

Hypernyms (to "quest" is one way to...):

seek (try to get or reach)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

quest (the act of searching for something)

quester (someone making a search or inquiry)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Search the trail of (game)

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The dog went off and quested

Hypernyms (to "quest" is one way to...):

chase; chase after; dog; give chase; go after; tag; tail; track; trail (go after with the intent to catch)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Bark with prolonged noises, of dogs

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

bay; quest

Hypernyms (to "quest" is one way to...):

bark (make barking sounds)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Seek alms, as for religious purposes

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "quest" is one way to...):

beg; solicit; tap (make a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently or persistently)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 5

Meaning:

Express the need or desire for

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

ask for; bespeak; call for; quest; request

Context example:

when you call, always ask for Mary

Hypernyms (to "quest" is one way to...):

communicate; pass; pass along; pass on; put across (transmit information)

Verb group:

call for; invite (request the participation or presence of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "quest"):

beg off; excuse (ask for permission to be released from an engagement)

book; hold; reserve (arrange for and reserve (something for someone else) in advance)

ask; ask out; invite out; take out (make a date)

call (call a meeting; invite or command to meet)

ask over; ask round; invite (invite someone to one's house)

arrogate; claim; lay claim (demand as being one's due or property; assert one's right or title to)

beg (ask to obtain free)

desire (express a desire for)

ask in; invite (ask to enter)

call for; invite (request the participation or presence of)

claim (ask for legally or make a legal claim to, as of debts, for example)

demand (ask to be informed of)

challenge (ask for identification)

reserve (obtain or arrange (for oneself) in advance)

beg; solicit; tap (make a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently or persistently)

apply (ask (for something))

supplicate (ask for humbly or earnestly, as in prayer)

appeal; invoke (request earnestly (something from somebody); ask for aid or protection)

demand (request urgently and forcefully)

petition (write a petition for something to somebody; request formally and in writing)

encore (request an encore, from a performer)

ask (make a request or demand for something to somebody)

order (make a request for something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

“I fear there is some dark ending to our quest,” said he.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He had tampered with drugs and done many strange things in quest of new thrills, new sensations.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I wondered what he sought there: his words soon explained the quest.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

They crossed low divides and ranged a dozen small streams in a lower-lying country before their quest was rewarded.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

And then begins our great quest.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

On the following evening I went into London in quest of him.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Now she hoped for some beneficial change; and, after a period of nothing-saying amongst the party, some of them did decide on going in quest of tea.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

It was clearly a dangerous quest.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Elizabeth walked in quest of the only face whose features would be known to her.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

His heavy face was gorged and the veins stood out on his low forehead, while his fierce grey eyes looked viciously from man to man in quest of a quarrel.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)