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View synonyms for huddle

huddle

[ huhd-l ]

verb (used without object)

, hud·dled, hud·dling.
  1. to gather or crowd together in a close mass.
  2. to crouch, curl up, or draw oneself together.
  3. Football. to get together in a huddle.
  4. to confer or consult; meet to discuss, exchange ideas, or make a decision.


verb (used with object)

, hud·dled, hud·dling.
  1. to heap or crowd together closely.
  2. to draw (oneself ) closely together, as in crouching; nestle (often followed by up ).
  3. Chiefly British. to do hastily and carelessly (often followed by up, over, or together ).
  4. to put on (clothes) with careless haste (often followed by on ).

noun

  1. a closely gathered group, mass, or heap; bunch.
  2. Football. a gathering of the offensive team in a close circle or line behind the line of scrimmage for instructions, signals, etc., from the team captain or quarterback, usually held before each offensive play.
  3. a conference, or consultation, especially a private meeting to discuss serious matters:

    The labor representatives have been in a huddle for two hours.

  4. confusion or disorder.

huddle

/ ˈhʌdəl /

noun

  1. a heaped or crowded mass of people or things
  2. informal.
    a private or impromptu conference (esp in the phrase go into a huddle )


verb

  1. to crowd or cause to crowd or nestle closely together
  2. often foll by up to draw or hunch (oneself), as through cold
  3. informal.
    intr to meet and confer privately
  4. tr to do (something) in a careless way
  5. rare.
    tr to put on (clothes) hurriedly

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Derived Forms

  • ˈhuddler, noun

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Other Words From

  • huddler noun
  • huddling·ly adverb
  • un·huddle verb (used with object) unhuddled unhuddling

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Word History and Origins

Origin of huddle1

1570–80; hud- (weak grade of root found in hide 1 ) + -le; replacing Middle English hoder, equivalent to hod- (variant hud- ) + -er -er 6

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Word History and Origins

Origin of huddle1

C16: of uncertain origin; compare Middle English hoderen to wrap up

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Idioms and Phrases

see go into a huddle .

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Example Sentences

Each space can vary in purpose, from a front-desk mock-up to a beach hangout or a design huddle.

Lantz recommends a “short and sweet huddle” each morning between employees and their direct reports, which ensures not only that work priorities are communicated, but also that employees feel a part of a community.

From Digiday

He is the king of breaking plays, of drawing up game-winners in the huddle, of making Hail Marys seem like certainties and using his imagination to make up for any of his team’s shortcomings.

We pause by the door, gather in a little triangle huddle and give each other a torrent of kisses.

From Time

At LSU, Matt was a Dance Cam regular and often joined the pregame huddle.

I like to imagine you in Friday Night Lights in the huddle doling out orders to everybody.

The House Armed Services Committee members are scheduled to huddle Tuesday for a classified briefing on Iraq.

On a green field below the sloping campus, teams huddle and plot strategy as group leaders and refs get the games into place.

The tornado sirens would go and then my parents would huddle us all in our storm shelter in the middle of the house.

On freezing days, there was no need to huddle outside the office for four minutes to suck down my dose.

Gila Bend had exasperated him because it was not the town it called itself, but a huddle of adobe huts.

They huddle together side by side and on top of one another, and look like a pile of plump sausages.

For the guidance of these energetic folk of ink and types, I will unfold a further huddle of details.

Alongside one of the buildings I came upon her sitting in a huddle of her most treasured possessions.

Others came riding in, saw the huddle before the mess-tent and came up to investigate.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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