Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To inhabit, visit, or appear to in the form of a ghost or other supernatural being.
  • intransitive verb To visit often; frequent.
  • intransitive verb To come to the mind of continually; obsess.
  • intransitive verb To be continually present in; pervade.
  • intransitive verb To recur or visit often, especially as a ghost.
  • noun A place much frequented.
  • noun Chiefly Southern US A ghost or other supernatural being.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To frequent or visit; resort to much or often, or be much about; visit customarily.
  • To come or recur to persistently, so as not to be prevented or driven away; attend or accompany so constantly as to be annoying or offensive; intrude upon continually.
  • Specifically, to reappear frequently to after death; visit habitually in a disembodied state, as a supposed spirit, ghost, or specter.
  • To devote one's self to; practise; pursue; use.
  • To be much about; be present often or persistently; go or visit often; resort.
  • To reappear, as a disembodied spirit.
  • noun A place of frequent resort or visitation; a place in which any being, or, figuratively, some quality or characteristic, is commonly manifested or seen.
  • noun A limited region assigned to or owned by one for his habitation or the practice of his profession; a district.
  • noun The act, habit, or custom of resorting to a place.
  • noun Custom; practice; skill.
  • noun A disembodied spirit supposed to haunt a certain place; a ghost.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To persist in staying or visiting.
  • noun A place to which one frequently resorts
  • noun obsolete The habit of resorting to a place.
  • noun obsolete Practice; skill.
  • transitive verb To frequent; to resort to frequently; to visit pertinaciously or intrusively; to intrude upon.
  • transitive verb To inhabit or frequent as a specter; to visit as a ghost or apparition; -- said of spirits or ghosts, especially of dead people.
  • transitive verb obsolete To practice; to devote one's self to.
  • transitive verb obsolete To accustom; to habituate.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To inhabit, or visit frequently (most often used in reference to ghosts).
  • verb transitive To make uneasy, restless.
  • verb transitive To stalk, to follow
  • verb intransitive To live habitually; to stay, to remain.
  • verb transitive, Northern England, Scotland To accustom; habituate; make accustomed to.
  • verb transitive, Northern England, Scotland To practise.
  • noun A place at which one is regularly found; a hangout.
  • noun dialect A ghost.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb follow stealthily or recur constantly and spontaneously to
  • noun a frequently visited place
  • verb haunt like a ghost; pursue
  • verb be a regular or frequent visitor to a certain place

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English haunten, to frequent, from Old French hanter; see tkei- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English haunten ("to reside, inhabit, use, employ"), from Old French hanter ("to inhabit, frequent, resort to"), of Germanic origin, probably through Gothic * (haimatjan, "to lead home"), from Proto-Germanic *haimatjanan (“to house, bring home”), from Proto-Germanic *haimaz (“village, home”), from Proto-Indo-European *kōim- (“village”). Cognate with Old English hāmettan ("to provide housing to, bring home"), Old Norse heimta (Swedish hämta, "to bring home, fetch"); related to Old English hām ("home, village"), Old French hantin ("a stay, a place frequented by") from the same Germanic source. More at home.

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Examples

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  • Do the ghosts of chickens haunt and peck?

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    July 12, 2007

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