I. ˈkwest noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French queste, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin quaesta, from Latin quaesita, quaesta, feminine of quaesitus, quaestus past participle of quaerere to seek, ask
1.
a. chiefly dialect : an official inquiry : inquest
b. : a jury of inquest
what lawful quest have given their verdict up? — Shakespeare
c. : investigation
a long spiritual quest into the entire Spanish past — Bohdan Chudoba
limitations set to the child's sex quest — Structure & Meaning of Psychoanalysis
2.
a. : the action or an act or instance of seeking:
(1) : expedition , pursuit , venture
the quest for Neanderthal fossils — R.W.Murray
all his work is a quest for values — C.J.Rolo
our united quest of a just and lasting peace — D.D.Eisenhower
(2) : a chivalrous enterprise in medieval romance usually involving an adventurous journey
b.
(1) archaic : a search (as by hounds) for game
(2) dialect : the baying of hounds in pursuit or barking on seeing game
3. obsolete : those who search or make inquiry
hath sent about three several quests to search you out — Shakespeare
4. : collection of alms or donations especially for religious uses
•
- in quest of
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English questen, from Middle French quester, from queste
intransitive verb
1. of a dog
a. : to search a trail (as of game)
the dog after a little understood and quested — Robinson Jeffers
b. : to give tongue : bay
questing like a hound on a broken trail — Rudyard Kipling
2. : to make a search : go in pursuit : go on a quest : seek , ask
still questing for sultry love and high adventure — Henry Cavendish
this indolence of the body while the soul is questing — H.S.Canby
questing ceaselessly for improvements — Newsweek
giraffes come questing through the trees to take their turn to drink — Alan Moorehead
things that die with their eyes open and questing — Ben Hecht
3. : to seek alms especially for religious uses
transitive verb
1. : to search for : examine , pursue
hounds … should spread to quest as individuals all the covert's fastnesses — E.G.W.W.Harrison
baffled eyes questing more information — L.C.Douglas
2. : to ask for : demand
questing … your prayers — Augusta Gregory