Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To stoop, especially with the knees bent.
- intransitive verb To press the entire body close to the ground with the limbs bent.
- intransitive verb To bend servilely or timidly; cringe.
- intransitive verb To bend (the head or knee, for example) low, as in fear or humility.
- noun The act or posture of bending low or crouching.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A cross; a crucifix; the sign of the cross; the cross on a coin, or the coin itself. See
cross , n. - To bend; stoop low; lie or stoop close to the ground, as an animal in preparing to spring or from fear: as, a dog crouches to his master, a lion crouches in the thicket.
- To bow or stoop servilely; make slavish obeisance; fawn; cringe.
- To bend or cause to bend low, as if for concealment, or in fear or abasement.
- To sign with the cross; bless.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb obsolete To sign with the cross; to bless.
- transitive verb To bend, or cause to bend, as in humility or fear.
- intransitive verb To bend down; to stoop low; to lie close to the ground with the logs bent, as an animal when waiting for prey, or in fear.
- intransitive verb To bend servilely; to stoop meanly; to fawn; to cringe.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun obsolete A
cross . - verb obsolete To
sign with thecross ;bless . - verb intransitive To
bend down ; tostoop low ; to lie close to the ground with legs bent, as an animal when waiting for prey, or in fear. - verb intransitive To bend
servilely ; to stoop meanly; tofawn ; tocringe . - verb intransitive To bend, or cause to bend, as in
humility orfear . - noun A bent or
stooped position . - noun A
button (of ajoypad ,joystick or similardevice ) whose only or main current function is that when it ispressed causes avideo game character to crouch.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the act of bending low with the limbs close to the body
- verb sit on one's heels
- verb bend one's back forward from the waist on down
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Refusing to call them on their bullshit, to hector them at every turn, to refute them at every opportunity, and to emerge from that defensive crouch is a sign of weakness that can be done without. cyates Says:
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His crouch was a gathering together, an assembling of all the parts of him under the rule of the spirit of him, for the spring upward to meet in mid career this monstrous, menacing thing.
Jerry of the Islands Jack London 1896
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"Just call the crouch, touch, pause, engage, and don't try to coach us," was Tialata's plea.
Stuff.co.nz - Stuff 2009
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Although the NWS has, indeed, recommended the "crouch" as a last resort, the NWS's lightning expert himself, John Jensenius, told me that the advantage is slight -- not as great as some NWS websites imply.
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This part of the tunnel, again, you have to kind of crouch down.
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This part of the tunnel, again, you have to kind of crouch down.
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But when Tabu-Tabu put up his hands after the most approved method of self-defense and dropped into a "crouch,"
Captain Scraggs or, The Green-Pea Pirates Gordon [Illustrator] Grant 1918
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Such men can "crouch" with impunity, there is no one to run them down and no law to punish them.
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"What's impressed me the most is that the folks have not gotten into a kind of crouch position," he said.
unknown title 2009
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If out in the open, squat out in a low-lying area on the tips of your toes in a "crouch" position, away from other people (electrical current can jump from one person or object to another).
Capital Weather Gang 2009
598531899 commented on the word crouch
CrOUCH
July 22, 2011