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Glite Dictionary
🤔 A gut feeling 🧓 To bend forward 🧓 A bent posture
to hunch

to hunch

51 4.2
To bend forward and pull the shoulders in so the back rounds
  • verb
  • /hʌnʧ/
translation icon : encorvarse
  • Jimmy sat up straight, while Francisco and Kevin hunched over their notepads with their faces inches from the page.
  • hunched shoulders

The poem is the force in which to cower, hunching down by warehouses of power.

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Examples

  • I walked slowly to my car and sat hunched over the steering wheel.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Sayer steps into the room to find a figure hunched over his typewriter in a pool of lamplight.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Why are you all hunched over like this?

    The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)

  • Many of them hunched over in prayer.

    Goalie (2019)

  • Her hands were clenched, and her body was still hunched forward on the edge of the seat.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Cut to the window as Annie drives by, hunched over the wheel.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Warren's shoulders seemed to hunch as if he were bracing against a cold wind.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Fester is on the phone, hunched over, his eyes darting to make sure no one overhears.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The driver was a disinterested, middle-aged Hispanic, hunched over a clipboard, busily writing.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • After hours of studying at the desk, she found herself hunched over her notes, feeling tired.

Synonyms

to bend
vsto hunch
194 1.0

To lean forward at the waist

specifies pulling shoulders forward and rounding the upper back, not just leaning
to stoop
vsto hunch
27 2.6

To bend your body forward at the waist

emphasizes shoulder rounding and upper back curve rather than waist bending
to hump
vsto hunch
23 5.4

To bend forward and curve the upper back by pushing the shoulders forward

is the general description of the same rounded shoulder posture
to slouch
vsto hunch
22 4.6

To sit, stand, or walk with the shoulders and head bent forward in a lazy way

focuses on rounded back with shoulders pulled forward rather than lazy slumping
to hunch over
vsto hunch
17 4.2

Bend forward with rounded shoulders and back

describes that posture but without specifying cause or intensity
to hunch forward
vsto hunch
2 4.4

Bend your upper body forward and round your shoulders, often when you feel cold or tired

denotes the same movement but without the hiding or protecting intent

Antonyms

to stand
∞ 1.0

To be or put something in an upright position

to straighten
114 2.5

Make something straight and in the right position

Idioms

to trust your hunch
6.5

Act on a feeling that something is right without checking facts

Phrasal Verbs

to hunch over
17 4.2

Bend forward with rounded shoulders and back

to hunch forward
2 4.4

Bend your upper body forward and round your shoulders, often when you feel cold or tired

How Bent

to hunch
51 4.2
to stoop
27 2.6
to slouch
22 4.6
to bend
194 1.0
to stand up
27 1.0

Surface Forms

hunch infinitive
hunched past
hunched past participle
hunching present participle
hunches third person singular

Etymology

Hunch as a verb comes from the same idea of making a hump; to hunch is to bend so your shoulders and back make a small 'hump', which is why it means to bend forward and draw your shoulders in.