Adjacent Words

Hunch definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HUNCH,n. [See the Verb.] A hump; a protuberance; as the hunch of a camel.
1. A lump; a thick piece; as a hunch of bread; a word in common vulgar use in New England.
2. A push or jerk with the fist or elbow.
HUNCH, v.t. To push with the elbow; to push or thrust with a sudden jerk.
1. To push out in a protuberance; to crook the back.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an impression that something might be the case; "he had an intuition that something had gone wrong" [syn: intuition, hunch, suspicion]
2: the act of bending yourself into a humped position v
1: round one's back by bending forward and drawing the shoulders forward [syn: hunch, hump, hunch forward, hunch over]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1581 transitive verb 1. jostle, shove 2. to thrust or bend over into a humped or crooked position intransitive verb 1. to thrust oneself forward 2. a. to assume a bent or crooked posture b. to draw oneself into a ball ; curl up c. huddle, squat II. noun Date: 1630 1. an act or instance of hunching ; push 2. a. a thick piece ; lump b. hump 3. a strong intuitive feeling concerning especially a future event or result

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 tr. bend or arch into a hump. 2 tr. thrust out or up to form a hump. 3 intr. (usu. foll. by up) US sit with the body hunched. --n. 1 an intuitive feeling or conjecture. 2 a hint. 3 a hump. 4 a thick piece. Etymology: 16th c.: orig. unkn.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hunch Hunch, n. A strong, intuitive impression that something will happen; -- said to be from the gambler's superstition that it brings luck to touch the hump of a hunchback. [Colloq. or Slang]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hunch Hunch, n. [Perh. akin to huckle; cf. hump, hunch, bunch, hunk.] 1. A hump; a protuberance. 2. A lump; a thick piece; as, a hunch of bread. 3. A push or thrust, as with the elbow.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hunch Hunch, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hunched; p. pr. & vb. n. Hunching.] 1. To push or jostle with the elbow; to push or thrust suddenly. 2. To thrust out a hump or protuberance; to crook, as the back. --Dryden.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(hunches, hunching, hunched) 1. If you have a hunch about something, you are sure that it is correct or true, even though you do not have any proof. (INFORMAL) I had a hunch that Susan and I would work well together... N-COUNT 2. If you hunch forward, you raise your shoulders, put your head down, and lean forwards, often because you are cold, ill, or unhappy. He got out his map of Yorkshire and hunched over it to read the small print. VERB: V adv/prep 3. If you hunch your shoulders, you raise them and lean forwards slightly. Wes hunched his shoulders and leaned forward on the edge of the counter. VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Hump, protuberance, knob, bunch, lump. 2. Punch, push, shove, nudge. 3. (Colloq.) Lump, hunk, large piece, thick slice. II. v. a. Punch, push, shove, jostle, nudge.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

To jostle, or thrust.

Moby Thesaurus

arch, bend, bend back, bilge, blain, bleb, blind guess, blister, blob, bold conjecture, boss, bow, bubble, bulb, bulge, bulla, bump, bunch, burl, button, cahot, chine, chunk, clod, clump, condyle, conjecture, convex, cower, cringe, crook, crouch, curl, curve, decurve, deflect, dome, dowel, ear, embow, feeling, flange, flap, flex, foreboding, forefeeling, funny feeling, gall, get down, gnarl, gob, grovel, guess, handle, hill, hook, huddle, hump, hunch down, hunk, impression, incurvate, incurve, inflect, intimation, intuition, intuitive impression, jog, joggle, knob, knot, knur, knurl, lip, loop, lump, mole, mountain, nevus, nub, nubbin, nubble, nugget, papilloma, peg, perhaps, preapprehension, prediction, premonition, presage, presagement, presentiment, recurve, reflect, reflex, retroflex, rib, ridge, ring, rough guess, round, sag, scrouch down, shot, shoulder, speculation, spine, squat, stab, stoop, stud, style, surmise, suspicion, swag, sweep, tab, tubercle, tubercule, turn, unverified supposition, vague feeling, vague idea, vault, verruca, vesicle, wad, wale, wallow, wart, welt, welter, wild guess, wind