Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • The hams; the haunches.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun plural Scot. & Local, U. S. In the phrase on one's hunkers, in a squatting or crouching position; haunches.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Third-person singular simple present indicative form of hunker.
  • noun dated Plural form of hunker.
  • noun The haunches

Etymologies

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Examples

  • From the WSJ Archives As Britain hunkers down for deep spending cuts, the legacy of Margaret Thatcher -- the last prime minister who made such a bold move -- looms large.

    Cuts Invite Comparison With Thatcher Cecilie Rohwedder 2010

  • Later the same night Matthew Maitland observed to Peter, as they sat on their "hunkers" at the corner:

    The Underworld The Story of Robert Sinclair, Miner James C. Welsh

  • Arrived at the pit-head, they found a number of miners there squatting on their "hunkers," waiting the time for descending the shaft.

    The Underworld The Story of Robert Sinclair, Miner James C. Welsh

  • Victim and operator squat down in a corner on their "hunkers," facing each other, and the operation then begins, the utensils being laid out upon a rag on the ground.

    Round the World Andrew Carnegie 1877

  • Evidently he had had a conference with the leading "hunkers" who had deputed him to state their case to me.

    Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs, Vol. 1 George S. Boutwell 1861

  • He was ever busy, either in building tub-mills across the mountain creeks and branches, sitting on his "hunkers" cutting out mill-stones in the lonely mountains, or hunting deer, turkeys, and bees in the wild forests.

    Fisher's River (North Carolina) Scenes and Characters 1859

  • The footman had hardly descended to what he termed his "hunkers," and begun to search the pavement about the spot which the old man indicated, when Mr. Peters, who seemed very much exhausted, and breathed with difficulty, struck him a violent blow, from above, over the back of the head with a heavy instrument, and then another; and leaving him bleeding and senseless in the gutter, ran like

    Green Tea; Mr. Justice Harbottle Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 1843

  • *** Africa As Ivory Coast's incumbent president hunkers down in his fortified basement, defended by a couple hundred core supporters, the people outside are bearing the brunt of a confrontation with no immediate end in sight.

    World Watch 2011

  • As Ivory Coast's incumbent president hunkers down in his fortified basement, defended by a couple hundred core supporters, the people outside are bearing the brunt of a confrontation with no immediate end in sight.

    Ivorian Standoff Takes Increasing Toll Peter Wonacott 2011

  • Barry Toll hunkers down on the jungle floor in the tri-border area where Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam meet at the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

    Barry Toll 2010

Comments

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  • This is a retarded variant of "haunches." Sorry, but it just sounds stupid.

    December 10, 2006