Chaser

How to spell chaser

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce chaser

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does chaser mean?

1. nounA person or thing that pursues or runs after someone or something.
2. nounA milder drink taken immediately after a stronger one, such as a beer after a shot of spirits.

Chaser in a sentence

• The lead car pulled away from its chaser on the motorway.

• He downed the whisky and ordered a beer as a chaser.

• As a storm chaser, she drives towards the weather most people flee.

• The bartender suggested a soda water chaser to soften the tequila.

Where does chaser come from?

Language of origin: French

This word is built on the verb 'chase', which English took from the Old French 'chacier', meaning 'to hunt or pursue'. That French verb traces back to an unrecorded Late Latin form 'captiare', a frequentative of the Latin 'capere', meaning 'to take or seize'; the idea was of repeatedly trying to catch something. English adopted 'chase' in the 1300s, and the agent noun 'chaser', simply 'one who chases', followed naturally by adding the suffix '-er'. The same Latin 'capere' root sits behind a surprisingly large family of English words, including 'capture', 'captive' and even 'cater'. The drink sense, a milder drink swallowed after a strong one, grew up in the 1800s from the image of the gentler drink running after the harsh one. The spelling is regular once you remember it is just 'chase' with its silent final 'e' kept before the '-er'.

How the word is built

• chase (from Old French chacier: to pursue)
• -er (agent suffix: one who or that which does)