haunch

[hawnch, hahnch]

See more synonyms for haunch on Thesaurus.com

noun

the hip.
the fleshy part of the body about the hip.
a hindquarter of an animal.

the leg and loin of an animal, used for food.
Architecture.
1. either side of an arch, extending from the vertex or crown to the impost.
2. the part of a beam projecting below a floor or roof slab.

Origin of haunch

1150–1200; Middle English haunche < Old French hanche < Germanic; compare Middle Dutch hanke haunch, hip, German Hanke haunch

Related formshaunched, adjectivehaunch·less, adjective

Can be confusedhaunch hunch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for haunches

hip, buttocks, thigh, leg, posterior, rump, loin

Examples from the Web for haunches

Contemporary Examples of haunches

“He was so quick, he could get around you before you got off your haunches,” says one former teammate.
Football Great Bob Suffridge Wanders Through the End Zone of Life
Paul Hemphill
September 6, 2014
Face red, eyes bulging to the ceiling, she lifted the bar from its stand and then lowered herself onto her haunches.
Sandy Koufax 2.0
Zachary Fenster
July 11, 2012

Historical Examples of haunches

And all the while the she-wolf sat on her haunches and smiled.
White Fang
Jack London
The teamster reined up, throwing his horses upon their haunches.
The Law-Breakers
Ridgwell Cullum
He shouted to them, and they sat down quietly on their haunches.
Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales
Anonymous
The horses sprang but were brought back upon their haunches.
The Web of the Golden Spider
Frederick Orin Bartlett
Jud dropped my rein and wrenched the Cardinal around on his haunches.
Dwellers in the Hills
Melville Davisson Post

British Dictionary definitions for haunches

haunch

noun

the human hip or fleshy hindquarter of an animal, esp a horse or similar quadruped
the leg and loin of an animal, used for fooda haunch of venison
Also called: hance architect the part of an arch between the impost and the apex

Derived Formshaunched, adjective

Word Origin for haunch

C13: from Old French hanche; related to Spanish, Italian anca, of Germanic origin; compare Low German hanke

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

Word Origin and History for haunches

haunch

early 13c., from Old French hanche (12c.) "hip, thigh; haunch," from a Germanic source, perhaps Frankish *hanka (cf. Old High German hinkan "to limp," ancha "leg," literally "joint;" Middle Dutch hanke "haunch"). "It is only since the 18th c. that the spelling haunch has displaced hanch" [OED]. Related: Haunches.