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hunches

 - 3 dictionary results

hunch

  [huhnch]
Use hunches 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; appar. var. of obs. hinch to push, shove, kick < ?

Synonyms:
5. surmise, feeling, theory, conjecture.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To hunches
hunch   (hŭnch)   
n.  

  1. An intuitive feeling or a premonition: had a hunch that he would lose.

  2. A hump.

  3. A lump or chunk: "She . . . cut herself another hunch of bread" (Virginia Woolf).

  4. A push or shove.

v.   hunched, hunch·ing, hunch·es

v.   tr.

  1. To bend or draw up into a hump: I hunched my shoulders against the wind.

  2. To push or shove.

v.   intr.

  1. To assume a crouched or cramped posture: The cat hunched in a corner.

  2. To thrust oneself forward.


[Origin unknown.]
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

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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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