dogged
Investigators dogged dogged suspects until they surrendered.
The sentence depicts how investigators persistently pursued tenacious suspects until they gave up.
Meanings
the past tense of 'dog' — pursued persistently or trailed someone closely, as a dog tracking a scent
- Reporters dogged the politician for weeks.
- Bad luck dogged him through his entire career.
showing tenacity and grim persistence
- Her dogged determination eventually paid off.
- Despite setbacks, they continued their dogged pursuit of the truth.
Word origin
Both senses come from 'dog' (Old English docga, of unknown origin — replaced the more general Old English hund, which survives as 'hound'). The verb 'to dog' someone meant 'to track like a dog'; the past tense /dɒɡd/ is one syllable. The adjective 'dogged' (tenacious) is two syllables /ˈdɒɡɪd/ because it's an old participial adjective formed with the obsolete -ed suffix that retained its vowel — like 'learned' /ˈlɜːrnɪd/, 'aged' /ˈeɪdʒɪd/, and 'wretched'.
Fun fact
The two-syllable adjective 'dogged' /ˈdɒɡɪd/ belongs to a small fossilized class of English -ed adjectives where the vowel of the ending survives: 'learned', 'aged', 'wretched', 'wicked', 'naked', 'crooked'. Most -ed past participles dropped the vowel centuries ago; these few held onto it for reasons we don't fully understand.