haunch
- 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.
- either side of an arch, extending from the vertex or crown to the impost.
- the part of a beam projecting below a floor or roof slab.
Origin of haunch
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.
Face red, eyes bulging to the ceiling, she lifted the bar from its stand and then lowered herself onto her haunches.
Historical Examples of haunches
And all the while the she-wolf sat on her haunches and smiled.
White FangJack London
The teamster reined up, throwing his horses upon their haunches.
The Law-BreakersRidgwell Cullum
He shouted to them, and they sat down quietly on their haunches.
Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk TalesAnonymous
The horses sprang but were brought back upon their haunches.
The Web of the Golden SpiderFrederick Orin Bartlett
Jud dropped my rein and wrenched the Cardinal around on his haunches.
Dwellers in the HillsMelville Davisson Post
haunch
- 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
Word Origin for haunch
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.