scrooch

American  

[skrooch] / skrutʃ /

Or scrootch

verb (used without object)

Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S.

1. to crouch, squeeze, or huddle (usually followed by down, in, orup ).

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scrooch British  

/ skruːtʃ /

verb

1. dialect to scratch (the skin) to relieve itching

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Etymology

Origin of scrooch

1835–45; apparently variant of scrouge, influenced in meaning by crouch

Example Sentences

"The battle's on now, to a finish," muttered Fran despondently, "yet here I sit, and here I scrooch."

From Fran by Ellis, J. Breckenridge (John Breckenridge)

When they put out a hand to feel her condition she would "scrooch" down her back, or bend this way or that, as if the hand were a branding-iron.

From Birds and Poets : with Other Papers by Burroughs, John

Do ye think, Sandy, that ye could scrooch out o' bed an' hump yerself over to them?

From The Primrose Ring by Sawyer, Ruth

Now, Bud," Mr. Cullum said, when the bag was set on the edge of the gully, with its mouth towards the prairie, "you jest scrooch down behind this here sack an' hold the candle.

From Southern Lights and Shadows by Howells, William Dean

“Oh,” sez he, “I mean to do it sly; I could scrooch down and pretend to be fixin’ my shues.”

From Around the World with Josiah Allen's Wife by Holley, Marietta