hunch

[huhnch]

verb (used with object)

1. to thrust out or up in a hump; arch.

   to hunch one's back.

2. to shove, push, or jostle.

verb (used without object)

1. to thrust oneself forward jerkily; lunge forward.

2. to stand, sit, or walk in a bent posture.

noun

1. a premonition or suspicion; guess.

   I have a hunch he'll run for reelection.

   Synonyms: conjecture, theory, feeling, surmise

2. a hump.

3. a push or shove.

4. a lump or thick piece.

hunch

/ hʌntʃ /

noun

1. an intuitive guess or feeling

2. another word for hump

3. a lump or large piece

verb

1. to bend or draw (oneself or a part of the body) up or together

2. to sit in a hunched position

Word History and Origins

Origin of hunch¹

1590–1600; 1900–05 hunch for def. 5; apparently variant of obsolete hinch to push, shove, kick < ?

Word History and Origins

Origin of hunch¹

C16: of unknown origin

Example Sentences

Yet Robinson had a hunch that his protégé was about to prove the doubters wrong.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Now, instead of standing 20 deep at a ticker, everyone is hunched over their own devices, getting quotes as well as analysis and advice, trading on their lunch hour or on a beach vacation.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

To outsiders, founder life might appear joyless—young people chasing their fortunes in one of America’s most picturesque cities without taking time to explore it, living on prepackaged meals eaten hunched at their computers.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

It's summer 1998, and he's hunched over the turntables at New York's venerable VIP bar, Spy.

Read more on BBC

The stereotype of today’s teenagers as anxious loners hunched over their phones is limiting and inaccurate, she said, as four fellow volunteers nodded in agreement.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• inkling 
• instinct 
• intuition 
• premonition