hunched

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hunch

(hŭnch)

1. An intuitive feeling or a premonition: had a hunch that he would lose.

2. A hump.

3. A lump or chunk: "She ... cut herself another hunch of bread" (Virginia Woolf).

4. A push or shove.

v. hunched, hunch·ing, hunch·es

v.tr.

1. To bend or draw up into a hump: I hunched my shoulders against the wind.

2. To push or shove.

v.intr.

1. To assume a crouched or cramped posture: The cat hunched in a corner.

2. To thrust oneself forward.

[Origin unknown.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

hunched

(hʌntʃt)

adj

(of a person) leaning forwards with their shoulders raised and their head down, or (of shoulders, etc) in the posture adopted by a hunched person

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.

hunched - having the back and shoulders rounded; not erect; "a little oldish misshapen stooping woman"

round-backed, round-shouldered, stooped, stooping, crooked

unerect - not upright in position or posture

Translations

hunched

[ˈhʌntʃt] adj [figure, person] → recroquevillé(e); [shoulders, back] → voûté(e)
He sat hunched in a corner → Il était assis recroquevillé dans un coin.
to sit hunched over sth → être penché(e) sur qch, être courbé(e) sur qch

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

hunched

[ˈhʌntʃt] adj → incurvato/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

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References in classic literature ?

They both shouted together, as if to drown my voice; and behind them lowered the staring faces of the Beast Men, wondering, their deformed hands hanging down, their shoulders hunched up.

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And suddenly I heard a yell, and saw a long tentacle reach- ing over the shoulder of the machine to the little cage that hunched upon its back.

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Nevertheless, I put my light out early, and sat a long time peeping through my blind; but only an inevitable Tom, with back hunched up and tail erect, broke the moonlit profile of the back-garden wall; and once more that disreputable music (which none the less had saved my life) was the only near sound all night.

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He sat hunched up in a corner of the carriage, the picture of mute discomfort and misery.

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"It does no good to stretch for 10 minutes or take an exercise class for an hour every few days if you're holding yourself with your head forward and shoulders hunched all the rest of the time, day in and day out," de Mille warns.

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