manhunt

/ˌmænˈhʌnt/

/ˈmænhənt/

Other forms: manhunts

When police assemble a team to search for a criminal, it's called a manhunt, even if the person they're looking for is a woman.

After an armed bank robbery or a prison escape is reported, the local police department sometimes launches a manhunt to search for the perpetrator. The crime that's been committed has to be fairly serious to result in a manhunt, because it requires extra officers. In some cases, the FBI might even get involved in a manhunt.

Definitions of manhunt

1. noun

   an organized search (by police) for a person (charged with a crime)
   type of:

   hunt, hunting, search

   the activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone