U.S. [f. STILL a. + HUNT sb.]
1. A pursuit for game in a stealthy manner or under cover; stalking.
1856. Mayne Reid, Hunters’ Feast, xvii. 145. It was to be a ‘still’ hunt, and we went afoot.
1861. G. F. Berkeley, Sportsm. W. Prairies, xiv. 261. They started to ‘still-hunt,’ or stalk a buffalo.
2. transf. The pursuit of any object quietly and cautiously; esp. (see quot. 1890).
1890. C. L. Norton, Polit. Americanisms, 109. Still Hunt.—Originally a sporting term, but applied during the campaign of 1876 to political methods conducted in secret, or under-handed methods.
1893. Lightning, 9 Feb., 89/2. We go on the ‘still-hunt’ principle.
