hunch
Use Hunch in a sentence
verb (used with object)
1.
to thrust out or up in a hump; arch: to hunch one's back.
2.
to shove, push, or jostle.
verb (used without object)
3.
to thrust oneself forward jerkily; lunge forward.
4.
to stand, sit, or walk in a bent posture.
noun
5.
a premonition or suspicion; guess: I have a hunch he'll run for reelection.
6.
a hump.
7.
a push or shove.
8.
a lump or thick piece.
Origin:
1590–1600; 1900–05 for def 5; apparently variant of obsolete hinch to push, shove, kick < ?
1590–1600; 1900–05 for def 5; apparently variant of obsolete hinch to push, shove, kick < ?
Synonyms
5. surmise, feeling, theory, conjecture.
5. surmise, feeling, theory, conjecture.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To hunch
00:10
Hunch
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:
| to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable. |
| to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
hunch (hʌntʃ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | an intuitive guess or feeling |
| 2. | another word for hump |
| 3. | a lump or large piece |
| —vb (usually foll by up) | |
| 4. | to bend or draw (oneself or a part of the body) up or together |
| 5. | to sit in a hunched position |
| [C16: of unknown origin] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
hunch
originally (1581) a verb, "to push, thrust," of unknown origin. Meaning "raise or bend into a hump" is 1598, in hunchbacked. Perhaps a variant of bunch. Figurative sense of "hint, tip" (a "push" toward a solution or answer), first recorded 1849, led to that of "premonition, presentiment" (1904).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Lab rodents were the first trial subjects to test the idea, but studies in humans have backed up the hunch.
There's no better feeling in fantasy than having a hunch about a prospect who comes up big for you during the season.
It is clear that you don't know how to differentiate fact from theory or a hypothesis from a hunch.
But the archaeologist had a hunch that these rock chips filled a shaft-maybe even a tomb.
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