prowl

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To roam through stealthily, as in search of prey or plunder: prowled the alleys of the city after dark.
2. v. To rove furtively or with predatory intent: cats prowling through the neighborhood.
3. n. The act or an instance of prowling.
4. idiom. on the prowl Actively looking for something: salespeople on the prowl for better jobs.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To rove or wander over in a stealthy manner: as, to prowl the woods or the streets.
2. To collect by plunder.
3. To rove or wander stealthily, as one in search of prey or plunder; search carefully, and in a quiet or secretive manner.
4. To plunder; prey; foray.
5. n. The act of prowling; a roving as for prey: as, to be on the prowl.

Wiktionary

1. v. To be on the lookout for some prey.
2. v. To be watching over something.
3. v. To fanny about, seemingly aimlessly.
4. v. To walk authoratively.
5. n. colloquial The act of prowling.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To rove over, through, or about in a stealthy manner; esp., to search in, as for prey or booty.
2. v. obsolete To collect by plunder.
3. v. To rove or wander stealthily, esp. for prey, as a wild beast; hence, to prey; to plunder.
4. n. colloq. The act of prowling.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. move about in or as if in a predatory manner
2. n. the act of prowling (walking about in a stealthy manner)
3. v. loiter about, with no apparent aim