She went looking for her dog.Is "looking for"a participial phrase or a gerund?

Answer 1

In the sentence "She went looking for her dog," the phrase "looking for her dog" is a participial phrase.

A participial phrase is a group of words that includes a participle (a verb form that functions as an adjective) and often its modifiers and other related words. In this case, "looking" is a present participle, and it modifies the subject "she." It describes the action she was engaged in when she went searching for her dog :)