hunchback

[ huhnch-bak ]

noun
  1. a person whose back is humped in a convex position because of abnormal spinal curvature.: Compare kyphosis, kyphoscoliosis.

Origin of hunchback

1
First recorded in 1705–15; back formation from hunchbacked

Words Nearby hunchback

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hunchback in a sentence

  • Every hand, every tongue was against the hunchback, yet my shame saved me.

    The Proud Prince | Justin Huntly McCarthy

British Dictionary definitions for hunchback

hunchback

/ (ˈhʌntʃˌbæk) /


noun
  1. a person having an abnormal convex curvature of the thoracic spine

  2. such a curvature

Origin of hunchback

1
C18: from earlier hunchbacked, huckbacked humpbacked, influenced by bunchbacked, from bunch (in obsolete sense of hump) + backed
  • Also called: humpback

Derived forms of hunchback

  • hunchbacked, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012