hunker

[huhng-ker]

verb (used without object)

to squat on one's heels (often followed by down).

Informal.

to hunch: The driver hunkered over the steering wheel.
to hide, hide out, or take shelter (usually followed by down): The escaped convicts hunkered down in a cave in the mountains.
to hold resolutely or stubbornly to a policy, opinion, etc., when confronted by criticism, opposition, or unfavorable circumstances (usually followed by down): Though all the evidence was against him, he hunkered down and refused to admit his guilt.

Slang. to lumber along; walk or move slowly or aimlessly.

noun

hunkers, one's haunches.

Idioms

on one's hunkers,

British Informal.squatting on one's heels.
suffering a period of poverty, bad luck, or the like.

Origin of hunker

1710–20; apparently hunk (perhaps nasalized variant of huck haunch; akin to Old Norse hūka to crouch) + -er⁶

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hunkering

huddle, squat, hunch, cower, wince, grovel, bow, stoop, bend, duck, quail, dip, kneel, quat

Examples from the Web for hunkering

Contemporary Examples of hunkering

For now the family is hunkering down in privacy, but royal blood never stays settled for too long.
Prince William Is Out of a Job. What Now?
Nico Hines
August 15, 2013
Afghans were hunkering down, and several mentioned another civil war.
America Prepares to Fold in Afghanistan But Must Stay
John Kael Weston
January 16, 2013
The move seemed to suggest that the notoriously combative mogul was hunkering down for a serious fight.
Rupert Murdoch’s Sun on Sunday Gambit to Save News Corp.’s Image
Mike Giglio
February 20, 2012
The message in all these statements is that Israel would now be hunkering down.
Israel’s Split Over Arab Uprisings
Dan Ephron
March 1, 2011

Historical Examples of hunkering

Then she came round, and, 'hunkering' down beside us, opened her book and in a low voice began to read.
Betty Grier
Joseph Waugh
Do you remember how the child you once were sat in the brae, spinning the peerie, and hunkering at I-dree I-dree I droppit-it?
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 99, November 15, 1890
Various
God made man to stand erect on his two feet, but you would be for ever hunkering like a monkey eatin' nuts.
Patsy
S. R. Crockett
Shann reached the next room in line, hunkering down to see within it.
Storm Over Warlock
Andre Norton

British Dictionary definitions for hunkering

hunker

verb

(intr often foll by down) to squat; crouch

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 hunkering

hunker

"to squat, crouch," 1720, Scottish, of uncertain origin, possibly from a Scandinavian source, cf. Old Norse huka "to crouch," hoka, hokra "to crawl." Hunker down, Southern U.S. dialectal phrase, popularized c.1965, from northern British hunker "haunch." Related: Hunkered; hunkering.