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Hunch
Definitions
- 1 A hump; a protuberance.
- 2 the act of bending yourself into a humped position wordnet
- 3 A stooped or curled posture; a slouch.
"The old man walked with a hunch."
- 4 an impression that something might be the case wordnet
- 5 A theory, idea, or guess; an intuitive impression that something will happen.
"I have a hunch they'll find a way to solve the problem."
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- 6 A hunk; a lump; a thick piece.
"a hunch of bread"
- 7 A push or thrust, as with the elbow.
- 1 To bend the top of one's body forward while raising one's shoulders. intransitive
"Don't hunch over your computer if you want to avoid neck problems."
- 2 round one's back by bending forward and drawing the shoulders forward wordnet
- 3 To raise (one's shoulders) (while lowering one's head or bending the top of one's body forward); to curve (one's body) forward (sometimes followed by up). transitive
"They stood outside the door hunching themselves against the rain and puffing on their cigarettes."
- 4 To walk (somewhere) while hunching one's shoulders. intransitive
"[…] the figure hunched up the road."
- 5 To thrust a hump or protuberance out of (something); to crook, as the back. transitive
"[…] thou art all one errour; soul and body. The first young tryal of some unskill’d Pow’r; Rude in the making Art, and Ape of Jove. Thy crooked mind within hunch’d out thy back; And wander’d in thy limbs:"
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- 6 To push or jostle with the elbow; to push or thrust against (someone). transitive
"After this, we saw a great Troop of Women upon the High-way to Hell, with their Bags; and their fellows, at their Heels, ever, and anon, hunching, and Justling one Another."
- 7 To have a hunch, or make an intuitive guess. colloquial, intransitive
"People who are instinctive hunchers go through some such process at every decision-making point of their lives. It is likely that children often make decisions and discern truths by hunching."
Etymology
Assibilated variant of hunk, of uncertain origin. Alternatively, a derivative of hump, via an earlier Middle English *hunche, *humpchin, from *hump + -chin, -chen (diminutive suffix), equivalent to hump + -kin. In the sense of an intuitive impression, said to be from the old gambling superstition that it brings luck to touch the hump of a hunchback.
Assibilated variant of hunk, of uncertain origin. Alternatively, a derivative of hump, via an earlier Middle English *hunche, *humpchin, from *hump + -chin, -chen (diminutive suffix), equivalent to hump + -kin. In the sense of an intuitive impression, said to be from the old gambling superstition that it brings luck to touch the hump of a hunchback.
See also for "hunch"
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