hare and hounds

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

hare′ and hounds′, 

1. Games an outdoor game in which certain players, the hares, start off in advance on a long run, scattering small pieces of paper, called the scent, with the other players, the hounds, following the trail so marked in an effort to catch the hares before they reach a designated point. Also called paper chase. 

• 1835–45

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

hare and hounds noun

1. (functioning as singular) a game in which certain players (hares) run across country scattering pieces of paper that the other players (hounds) follow in an attempt to catch the hares