The opposite of this

Question

"xxx in pursuit", I know it to mean xxx is chasing after something or someone. What's the phrase to mean/describe the recieving end of the action, as in someone being chased or escaping from someting/someone. Is there such a phrase?

Thanks in advance

Raen

Avangi · Accepted Answer

Jack was pursued by his girlfriend's husband.

Can you mean something as simple as that??

Are you looking for a condition rather than an action?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Do you mean a grammatical term?

In that case, it is the "direct object"

The police (subject) were chasing the bank robber (direct object).

Anonymous · Answer

Haha, this thread makes me laugh. Perfect example of miscomunnication on my part, and I thought I was doing awesome.

Ok, i'll try again. For example, we'd hear something like this "The husband is in pursuit of the abominable adulterer, Jack." I thought maybe if we could just flip the sentence around, yes this could be a grammatical question, and make the subject and object switch place, we could have a sentence like this,

Jack is in _________ from the husband.

something like that? Like an opposite of the phrase "in pursuit"? Am I clear?.................no?

Raen

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Well, the only other general way of doing this is to switch the voice from active to passive. Otherwise you have to find a word with an equal but opposite meaning. Sometimes you can, but sometimes not. In this case, you can. The opposite of pursuit is retreat, for example.

AnonymousJack is being pursued by the husband.
Jack is in retreat from the husband

Raen · Answer

Thanks very much Alphecca <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

The opposite of this

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