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haunch

 - 3 dictionary results

haunch

  [hawnch, hahnch]
Use haunch in a Sentence
–noun
1. the hip.
2. the fleshy part of the body about the hip.
3. a hindquarter of an animal.
4. the leg and loin of an animal, used for food.
5. Architecture.
a. either side of an arch, extending from the vertex or crown to the impost.
b. the part of a beam projecting below a floor or roof slab.
Origin:
1150–1200; ME haunche < OF hanche < Gmc; cf. MD hanke haunch, hip, G Hanke haunch

Related forms:
haunched, adjective
haunchless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To haunch
haunch   (hônch, hŏnch)   
n.  

  1. The hip, buttock, and upper thigh in humans and animals.

  2. The loin and leg of a four-footed animal, especially as used for food: a haunch of venison.

  3. Architecture Either of the sides of an arch, curving down from the apex to an impost.


[Middle English haunche, from Old French hanche, from Frankish *hanka.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

haunch 
c.1225, from O.Fr. hanche, from Frank. *hanka (cf. O.H.G. hinkan "to limp," ancha "leg," lit. "joint;" M.Du. hanke "haunch"), from P.Gmc. *khink-.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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