Meaning & use
househunt
Last updated
Meaning
verbintransitive
to look for a house or apartment to buy or rent, often by visiting several properties
Grammar: No object; you househunt for a place, not househunt a place.
Patterns
- househunt for something
- househunt in a place
- go househunting
We spent the whole weekend househunting in the suburbs.
They are househunting for a two-bedroom flat near the station.
After selling their old place, they househunted for months before finding the right one.
Word forms
| third person singular | househunts |
|---|---|
| past tense | househunted |
| past participle | househunted |
| -ing form | househunting |
Common combinations
- go househunting
- We're going househunting this afternoon.
- spend time househunting
- They spent weeks househunting before making an offer.
- househunt in an area
- She's househunting in the city center.
- househunt for a flat
- He's househunting for a cheap flat.
Synonyms and how they differ
- house-hunt
- A variant spelling with a hyphen, used especially in British English; meaning is the same.
- look for a house
- A more general phrase used in both British and American English; it can refer to any kind of searching, not just visiting properties.
Word family
- househunting noun
- The activity of looking for a house.
- househunter noun
- A person who is looking for a house.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'househunt' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Househunt' is intransitive, so it cannot take a direct object like 'a new apartment' (option A). It is followed by 'for' to show what you are looking for (option B). 'Househunt to' and 'househunt in' do not fit the meaning of searching for a place to live.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “househunt”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.