huddle
- to gather or crowd together in a close mass.
- to crouch, curl up, or draw oneself together.
- Football. to get together in a huddle.
- to confer or consult; meet to discuss, exchange ideas, or make a decision.
- to heap or crowd together closely.
- to draw (oneself) closely together, as in crouching; nestle (often followed by up).
- Chiefly British. to do hastily and carelessly (often followed by up, over, or together).
- to put on (clothes) with careless haste (often followed by on).
- a closely gathered group, mass, or heap; bunch.
- Football. a gathering of the offensive team in a close circle or line behind the line of scrimmage for instructions, signals, etc., from the team captain or quarterback, usually held before each offensive play.
- a conference, or consultation, especially a private meeting to discuss serious matters: The labor representatives have been in a huddle for two hours.
- confusion or disorder.
Origin of huddle
Related Words for huddled
crouch, gather, confer, converge, cluster, cuddle, consult, snuggle, conference, confab, gathering, group, mess, disorder, discussion, disarray, muddle, chaos, jumble, massExamples from the Web for huddled
Contemporary Examples of huddled
We huddled up and the boy snapped the photo, then handed me the camera.
Yet the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free did not always find what they expected in America.
Contestants, huddled on the couches of a communal room, clutched their faces in shock and some broke into sobs.
“We found them all huddled together,” Riccardo Russo of the Italian fire brigade told reporters.
We huddled under the covers and drank and ate and then ducked out in the dark to brush our teeth.
Historical Examples of huddled
Nellie was huddled against her mother, who sat, idle, with little Benny in her arms.
DustMr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
In the dusk of the wooded shades behind him huddled the group of slaves.
In the ValleyHarold Frederic
Tom was huddled in a heap on the straw bed in the far corner.
The Village Watch-Tower(AKA Kate Douglas Riggs) Kate Douglas Wiggin
Soubise and I huddled close together, trying to keep each other warm.
My Double LifeSarah Bernhardt
There they were, all huddled together with the engine and the fires.
Life And Adventures Of Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens
huddle
- a heaped or crowded mass of people or things
- informal a private or impromptu conference (esp in the phrase go into a huddle)
- to crowd or cause to crowd or nestle closely together
- (often foll by up) to draw or hunch (oneself), as through cold
- (intr) informal to meet and confer privately
- (tr) mainly British to do (something) in a careless way
- (tr) rare to put on (clothes) hurriedly
Word Origin for huddle
Word Origin and History for huddled
huddle
1570s, "to heap or crowd together," probably from Low German hudern "to cover, to shelter," from Middle Low German huden "to cover up," from Proto-Germanic *hud- (see hide (v.)). Cf. also Middle English hoderen "heap together, huddle" (c.1300). Related: Huddled; huddling. The noun is from 1580s. U.S. football sense is from 1928.
Idioms and Phrases with huddled
huddle
see go into a huddle.