embark on a quest

/ɪmˈbɑːrk ɒn ə ˈkwest/

verb phrase

  1. to start a long or difficult search or journey, especially one with a strong sense of purpose or adventure

    B2

    intransitive; often followed by 'to + infinitive' or 'for + noun' to state the goal; embark on + nounliterary or slightly formal; often used humorously for everyday goals

    • "She embarked on a quest to find her lost cat."A2
    • "The hero embarked on a quest to save the village."B1
    • "After graduation, he embarked on a quest for meaning that took him across Asia."B2
    • "She embarked on a quest to discover the truth about her family."B2

Common mistakes

  • embark a quest→embark on a quest

    Use 'on' (or 'upon') after 'embark' when it means 'to start something'.

  • embark in a quest→embark on a quest

    The usual preposition is 'on', not 'in'.

Collocations

embark on a journeyembark on a careerquest for knowledgequest for truthepic questembark on a quest

Word family

embarkquestquesting